Living in the Truth
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Simplified
The Scriptures (2465-2466)
The Old Testament teaches that God is the source of all truth and that God's people are called to truth.
Jesus Christ is "full of grace and truth" (Jn 1:14). He is "the truth" (Jn 14:6). Jesus wants his disciples to be consecrated "by means of the truth" (Jn 17:17). He promises that "the truth will make you free" (Jn 8:28). The Holy Spirit will lead the disciples "into all the truth" (Jn 16:13).
Seeking the Truth (2467-2468)
Man must tend toward the truth and witness to the truth. "Persons have a moral obligation to seek truth (especially religious truth) to adhere to the truth and to direct their lives according to the demands of truth" (Second Vatican Council).
Truthfulness consists in showing oneself true in deeds and in words and in avoiding duplicity, dissimulation, and hypocrisy.
Discretion and Honesty (2469-2470)
"Men could not live with one another if they were not truthful to one another" (St. Thomas Aquinas).
Truthfulness entails honesty and discretion, realizing what must be expressed, and what must be kept secret. "As a matter of honor, one man owes it to another to manifest the truth" (St. Thomas Aquinas).
By a simplicity of lifestyle, Christ's disciple "lives in the truth." We cannot have fellowship with Jesus if "we lie and do not live according to the truth" (1 Jn 1:6).
Christian Witness (2471-2472)
Christ proclaimed to Pilate that he had come "to bear witness to the truth" (Jn 18:37). Christians must not be "ashamed of testifying to our Lord" (2 Tim 1:8). They must have "a clear conscience toward God and toward men" (Acts 24:16).
Christians must witness to the Gospel by transmitting their faith in words and deeds. All Christians have an obligation by their lives to manifest their Baptism and to reveal the Holy Spirit who strengthened them in Confirmation (Second Vatican Council).
Martyrs for the Truth (2473-2474)
By martyrdom, a Christian gives supreme witness to Christ and to Christian doctrine. "Let me become the food of the beasts, through whom it will be given me to reach God" (St. Ignatius of Antioch).
The Church collects the acts and words of the martyrs whose witness is written in letters of blood. "It is better for me to die in order to unite myself to Christ Jesus than to reign over the ends of the earth. My birth is approaching" (St. Ignatius of Antioch). "I bless you for having judged me worthy from this day and this hour to be counted among your martyrs" (St. Polycarp).
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