This speech was written and delivered by Michael Duffy, the Valedictorian Speaker of the Class of 2010.
“Quid est veritas? What is truth?” Pilate asked God Incarnate as He stood on trial before him. Pilate asked Christ the question that had puzzled man since the beginning of time and continues to puzzle the human race even today. Opposite sides met on that fateful day: Christ on one side and Pilate on the other. The message given that day lives on to the present and we are faced with two options: Pilate or Christ. Those are the two places we can search for the Truth: either in Pilate, who epitomizes the world, or in Christ, who leads us to Heaven. Let us take a closer look into these two avenues.
The world searches for truth because it is the most important question that has perplexed the minds of men for centuries. And so it should since it is what the mind seeks and desires to possess. The definition of truth is as follows: conformity of the mind to what is real. However, when those of the world ask Pilate’s question, “What is truth,” they formulate their own answers in total disregard of reality. Instead of using codes of morality, they leave the question to their own subjectivism through proud human reason and errors are the obvious result. One of the errors prevalent today is that of relativism, which is a denial of absolute values. There is also the error of moral evolution, meaning that morals change with the times. Both of these ideas are an attack on truth and lead many people away from the actual truth. Once people believe that there are no moral values or that morals can change with the times, then there is no need for truth. And when people feel free to do whatever they want because to them there is no truth we see the effects of this ideology on modern society, such as impurity, disobedience, stealing, and killing, just to name a few. People are their own gods, not waiting for the answer to the question “What is truth?” Those people have their minds closed to the Eternal Truth, Who is present in every aspect of life. They are obstinate in their ways and obstinate in their rejection of the Truth that will judge them on the last day. These errors pull many souls away from God and draw them into the snare and traps of Satan.
The answer, therefore, cannot be found in the world around us. We must look above our own weak and proud human reason and humble ourselves. We are forced to look somewhere higher. If we are truly searching for the truth, we must look in the eternal wisdom of God for only in God can we find the truth. If we look again at the definition of truth, the conformity of the mind to reality, we see in God the eternal reality, the one thing that really matters for our salvation. When Our Lord came down to earth, He came to save the human race from its merited end of Hell. He came to teach us how to avoid sin, thus how to avoid Hell, and how to live a life of virtue, thus how to gain Heaven. After thirty years of living a hidden life, Our Blessed Lord went throughout Israel for three years, preaching the message of truth and salvation. He made it clear that the only way to gain eternal life is through God. At the Last Supper, Christ gave His disciples the answer to the eternal question of truth. This has been passed down through the ages by scripture, and we now have the unmistakable answer. In John Chapter 14, verse 6, Christ proclaims, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Now it is unmistakable as to Who the real truth is and Who we have to follow to find the truth. It is through Christ and Christ alone that our hearts will find peace.
Since there can be only one truth, and everything outside the truth is false, everything outside of Christ must be false. If we follow something other than the teachings of Christ, then we are leading ourselves down the wrong road, because being the Truth, Christ is also the Way that leads us to Heaven. He is one and same, because he is the height of all perfections. He is the Goal we are trying to reach, the goal of eternal life. Do we strive for this goal? Christ gave us the perfect example of how to attain the Truth by his life, sufferings, and death. His sole purpose in life was to bring us to the knowledge of the truth and at the end of His life He suffered and died for the truth. That was the reason for which the Pharisees had Jesus arrested: they could not bear the truth, and thus they put him to death by crucifixion. But Christ bore it all with patience and resignation to the will of His Father. At the trial before Pilate, Christ professed that He was a king come into the world to give testimony to the truth. At the Last Supper, Christ proclaimed to His disciples and thus to the world that He was the Truth, through Whom we attain eternal salvation. The evidence proving that Christ is the Truth could not be clearer.
Now we apply this question of truth to ourselves. We have those two examples of Pilate, representing the world, and Christ, representing the truth. Like Pilate, do we have that same puzzled question in our minds as we go through life? Or do we follow the eternal words of Christ? The world we live in today is attempting to pull us away from the truth, away from Christ, and trying to drag us down to Hell through its spreading errors. As scripture says, “The devil goes about the world seeking those whom he may devour.” We must always be those watching servants that Christ described in one of His parables so that we do not lose the truth we have. We must guard the truth of Christ, living our lives in accordance with His, practicing the virtues, the gifts, and the Commandments as He taught us to do during His public life. We cannot serve both God and Mammon. We have to make our decision as to whom we want to serve. It is entirely up to us because the only person responsible for saving or losing our soul is ourselves. This is not an easy task, but one that we must accomplish to possess the eternal Truth in the Beatific Vision.
During His public life, Christ gave us an example to follow, teaching us how we must live. As faithful Catholics, we must follow in His footsteps. We must not only recognize the truth but we must also live the truth, giving everybody around us an example of what it means to be Catholic. Christ suffered and died for the truth. Are we ready to suffer, bear reproaches and insults, and go against the tide of modern culture to preserve the truth in our lives? That is what it takes to get to Heaven. It is only through the Truth that we will be shown the Way that leads to Eternal Life.
