In the end, truth and charity are one

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

AS we approach Christmas and see how God’s ways are quite different from our ways, as can seen, for example, in the naming of John to the son of Elizabeth and Zachary which surprised their neighbors (cfr. Lk 1,57-66), we are reminded that truth and charity, which we normally consider as distinct from each other, are actually one.

And the secret is to see, understand and react to things the way Christ would see, understand and react to them. He is the very personification of how the exclusivity of truth and the inclusivity of charity can be blended together perfectly, despite all the differences, conflicts, errors and sins we commit in our life here on earth.

For this, we have to learn how to be open to everyone despite the differences of ideologies, beliefs, social conditions, etc. It’s not our job actually to judge since in the end it’s only God who can give the final judgments. We have to consider everyone as our brothers and sisters.

Yes, we have to be friendly with everyone regardless of how they treat us. We should try not to have enemies, especially in those conditions when we feel provoked precisely because of our unavoidable differences and conflicts. We should try our best that everyone would feel loved, understood and treated with affection.

We even should try to love the most wretched person who is doing some wrong. We may hate the act that was wrong but never the person who did it. Of course, this can be very challenging since very often we can hardly distinguish between the person and the acts of that person. But with God’s grace, which we should always beg, nothing is impossible.

At the same time, we should be clear about what is essential in a particular case. In this, of course, we should not make concessions. We have to learn to distinguish between what only has relative value and what has absolute value. In matters of opinions and personal preferences, we should be willing to give way, if only to keep our relation with others intact.

Just the same, we have to be wary of the danger of false compassion. We should be willing to suffer, and even to die like Christ, if only to defend the truth in charity. Somehow, we should be willing to replicate what Christ did before dying on the cross—by offering forgiveness to those who crucified him.

To be sure, this way of acting, this way of life will definitely be humanly and supernaturally fruitful. We would be attracting a lot of graces and a lot of souls the way Christ attracted them when he said: “And I, as I am lifted up from the earth, will attract everyone to me and gather them around me.” (Jn 12,32) We would be building up a healthier society.

We should just be guarded against our tendency to be exclusivistic in our attitude, which undeniably is part of our wounded human condition. We tend to judge things using merely human or worldly standards. Our idea of unity and perfection often does not coincide with what God has meant for these ideals. We, for example, often mistake uniformity with unity and perfectionism with the perfection that comes from God and this is proper to us.

We should try our best to follow Christ, even to the extent of identifying ourselves as “another Christ” since that is the only way we can put the exclusivity of truth and the inclusivity of charity together. It’s always God’s way, not our way only.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com