NAKED TRUTH

JN 18:38

Jesus Christ is the King, and He explains His kingship in a very short statement in the
Gospel. He said, “The reason I was born, is to testify to the truth. Anyone committed to the truth
hears My voice.”

Christ is King because Christ is the truth. Without truth, His Kingship would be empty.

My parents taught us, their three children, to value truth in our lives. I must admit that I
have not been faithful to their upbringing. Everybody falls into the temptation of living in half-
truths and surviving in white lies.

Before I was ordained a priest, my parents told me, “Speak the truth, and live by the truth.”

But I have to remind you that if you live by the truth, you must be ready to stand alone.

Proclaiming the truth can be a lonely task, as it was for Jesus. Jesus proclaims the truth
before Pilate but He is alone. His disciples who know He is the truth, the way and the life, are all
silent because they are afraid to be arrested with Jesus and given a death sentence along with Him.
His family, relatives and loved ones, are no longer there. Jesus stands alone.

Indeed, it is lonely to live for the truth and to proclaim the truth, because the truth can be
challenging and not all people want to be challenged. The truth can be difficult and not all people
want to face difficult lives. The naked truth can be embarrassing and not all people can endure
embarrassment. Piercing truths can sometimes hurt and not everybody is willing to endure the pain.

But Christ is the King because He came to proclaim the truth.

When was the last time you suffered for telling the truth? If you have not suffered recently
for telling the truth, could it be because you have become so at home with lies? Could it be because
you have started to call lies half-truths? Even if they are one-fourth truths or on-eighth truths, they
are still not truths. They are incomplete and still mutilations of the whole truth.

Could it be because instead of calling them lies, we call them white lies? Even if they are
red or violet lies, they are still lies and are displeasing to God.

When was the last time we stood alone to proclaim the truth? When was the last time we
were willing to die for the truth? When was the last time we were willing to face shame because of
the naked truth we needed to proclaim? Unless we are willing to speak the truth, the truth is
useless. It is only by the truth that we can be set free. If Christ said it, then it must be true. If we
are living in half-truths and white lies, the Kingdom of Christ has not yet taken over us.

“Jesus Loves You, Homilies at the EDSA Shrine” by Socrates B. Villegas