In the midst of one of the public attacks Our Lord endured in the months leading up to His crucifixion, He turned to reassure those who had come to believe in Him, even as His enemies were harassing Him and heaping verbal abuse: “Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in Him, ‘If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.'” (John 8:31-32)

Jesus is talking specifically here about “saving Truth” and not just truthful things in general, but living truthfulness in all things is very much a part of our Christian calling.  I spoke about this in last Sunday’s homily, and I want to reinforce the point through this Sunday’s Pastor’s Note.  Every Catholic should be clear that all lying is a sin, and not just the “big” lies that are meant to hurt people.

Here is a concise summary from Fr. Dominic Prümmer’s Handbook of Moral Theology (1957) on the matter:

A lie is intrinsically evil, so that no reason whatsoever can justify its use.  Sacred Scripture forbids all forms of lying without distinction: "Keep clear of untruth." (Exodus 23:7); "Do not tell lies at one another’s expense" (Colossians 3:9). The intrinsic reason for the evil character of lying is that it is opposed to : a) the natural purpose of speech which is given to man to reveal what is in his mind; b) natural human [inter-action] which is disturbed by lying; c) the good of the listener who is deceived by the lie; and d) the welfare of the speaker himself who, although he may obtain some temporary advantage from the lie, will suffer greater evils in consequence (par. 292).

Another useful definition on truthfulness is this one from the McHugh/Callan Moral Theology manual (1958):

Truthfulness is a moral virtue, preserving moderation in conversation and other interchanges of thought.  This virtue sees that facts are neither exaggerated nor understated, that truth is not manifested when it should be concealed, nor concealed when it should be spoken. (par. 2386)

Then we have St. Augustine’s declaration, that we are bound to tell the naked truth whatever the consequences may be.

Of course, the truth must be spoked in charity as well as justince, so that the virtue of truthfulness must be exercised with tact, consideration, kindness and respect for the rights of others.  The more discreet we are in our speech the less likely we will be to trip ourselves up either in a falsehood or a "you-wanna-know-what-I-really-think-of-you?"…

(Fr. Higgins)

Pastor’s Note from the Mary Immaculate of Lourdes Bulletin for March 23, 2014

(Pastor’s Note from the Mary Immaculate of Lourdes Bulletin for February 26, 2012)

The Eighteen Apparitions which make up the wondrous event of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s appearance to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858 were spread out in a seemingly haphazard manner. The first Apparition was on February 11th, the second on February 14th, the third on February 18th. Then there followed a fortnight of Apparitions between February 19th-March 4th, except for February 22nd and February 26th. After the 15th Apparition on March 4th, Bernadette did not have a visitation until March 25th, the Feast of the Annunciation, when the Vision revealed her name: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” The next to last Apparition was on April 7th, and the final one months later, on July 16th.

The haphazardness of the Apparitions, however, seems less so once we connect them to the time of year in which they occurred. The first Apparition occurred on Thursday of Sexagesima Week, the Second on Sunday in Shrovetide, the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, the Third on the Thursday after Ash Wednesday. The “Fortnight” of Apparitions between February 19th-March 4th encompassed the First Sunday in Lent, the Lenten Ember Days, the Second Sunday in Lent, and the Second Week of Lent through Friday. If we look at the Catholic Liturgy for those days, in the Mass and in the Divine Office as it was at that time, we find some startling correspondence between the Apparitions and the content of faith.

For example, Our Lady directed Bernadette to dig and uncover the spring of water on Thursday, February 25th, 1858. The next day, February 26th, was Ember Friday in Lent. By then the spring water was gushing forth from the Massabielle into the River Gave. The Gospel Lesson for Mass was from John 5:1-15, which relates how Jesus healed a paralyzed man who was lying helplessly by the healing Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. The water of Lourdes points us to consider the Pool of Bethesda in the Gospel, which in turn symbolizes the waters of Baptism. Christ’s miracles of healing for physical sickness in the Gospel are given as a sign of His greater divine power to heal the soul of its sickness to sin. Just so, the healing miracles to come through the Lourdes spring are but the outward sign of the inward grace at work in bringing sanctifying grace to human souls. Significantly, Our Lady inexplicably did not appear to Bernadette on the 26th—the day when the spring’s power was made so manifest. It was as if she had stepped back to draw attention to the work of her Divine Son Jesus.

(Fr. Higgins)