There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?” But his disciples said to him, “You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’ And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling.  She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.  He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction."   

James Blunt's pleasant song “You’re Beautiful” at first seems like a normal love song, judging from its title and its sound. But it is not a normal love song because things do not work out well at all. He closes his song with the words: “You’re beautiful, you’re beautiful, it’s true. There must be an angel with a smile on her face when she thought up that I should be with you. But it’s time to face the truth, I will never be with you.”  

One of the major difficulties with the romantic love of someone else is the situation when one of the partners wants the romantic love, but the other does not respond. It is a painful experience, and must be handled carefully by both of the partners. But James Blunt sings ultimately what must be done--such a person must face the truth.

Facing the truth, of course, goes much further than looking at the reality of love situations. It is also part of life, and an important one. Jesus wanted people to face the truth. There are many instances in the Gospels where Jesus wanted people to see and understand what the truth was. At one time in his life, he was on his way to help someone else, and a woman wanted to be cured of a disease. She touched his clothing, and Jesus wanted her to acknowledge her faith. He, in essence, told her to face the truth, that is, that she needed to believe in him. She did, and was cured of her disease.
 
Maturity calls us to face the truth of the situations in our lives. It may involve the action of moving on to another love situation; it may mean that we must become a better Christian believer; it may mean studying the facts of a situation before making a judgment; it will affect practically every situation of our lives. In whatever way truth comes to us, we must honor its presence. Acknowledging what is true about oneself is profoundly and solely a human attribute. Therefore seeking truth is both a right and a duty for every human being.                    

THOUGHT
 
PRAYER

Good and gracious God, you call us through your Son to face the truth in every situation of our lives. Help us to seek the maturity necessary to understand what the truth is, and then to react to it with integrity. Be with us, we pray.

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©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America