transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:00] Welcome to our Daily Rosary Meditation. This is the next in our series on Friendship with Jesus and the Commandments. Today, the Eighth Commandment. Let us begin in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Speaker 2:
[00:13] Amen.

Speaker 1:
[00:13] Let's call to mind all those who've promised to pray for. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day, he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

Speaker 2:
[00:44] I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[00:53] Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Speaker 2:
[00:59] Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[01:10] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[01:17] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[01:22] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[01:29] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[01:35] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[01:42] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[01:47] Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

Speaker 2:
[01:50] As it was, the beginning is now and never shall be, world without end. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[01:55] First mystery, the Eighth Commandment forbids misrepresenting the truth in our relations with others. Offenses against the truth expressed by word or deed are a direct infidelity to Christ who is the truth. So the Eighth Commandment is about an unconditional love of truth. What is truth? This is the question Pilate asked Christ, the truth incarnate, after Jesus had said, all those who listen to the truth hear my voice. Obviously, every disciple of Christ needs to be committed to truth, and to do that needs to believe that there is such a thing as truth. But what is a good definition of truth? Just this, truth is a reality insofar as it's knowable by the mind. St. Thomas said, truth is the conformity of the mind to reality. So when your mind grasps reality accurately, you have the truth. And this is what our mind was made for, to know reality. So why is it so essential for a disciple of Jesus to be concerned in knowing and grasping reality with the mind? Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Speaker 2:
[03:35] Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses. As we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[03:47] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[03:53] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[03:58] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[04:05] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[04:10] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[04:17] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[04:22] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[04:30] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[04:35] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[04:42] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[04:47] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[04:54] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[04:59] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[05:06] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[05:11] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[05:18] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[05:23] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[05:31] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[05:36] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[05:43] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[05:48] Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

Speaker 2:
[05:51] As it was in the beginning as now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[05:55] Oh, my Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[05:56] Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy.

Speaker 1:
[06:04] Our second mystery. Jesus came to lead us to God. The God, of course, is the supreme reality. If truth just means some reality insofar as it can be perceived by the mind, well, then, that means God is the supreme truth. That's why Jesus promises that the spirit he sends will lead us into all truth. Because when we behold God face to face, our minds will be directly encountering the supreme reality, the supreme truth. So to know God is to know the truth. If you don't believe in truth, if you don't care about truth, then you do not know God, and you don't care about Him, and you will have no part in the life of Christ who identified himself as the way, the truth, and the life. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Speaker 2:
[07:19] Give us to stay our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[07:31] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[07:38] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earnest now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[07:43] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[07:50] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earnest now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[07:55] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[08:02] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earnest now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[08:07] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[08:14] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earnest now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[08:19] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[08:26] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earnest now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[08:32] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[08:39] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earnest now and at the hour of our death.

Speaker 1:
[08:44] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[08:52] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earnest now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[08:57] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[09:04] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earnest now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[09:09] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[09:16] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earnest now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[09:22] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[09:28] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earnest now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[09:34] Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

Speaker 2:
[09:37] As it was in the beginning, as now never shall be, world without end. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[09:41] Oh, my Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[09:42] Free us from our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy.

Speaker 1:
[09:49] Our third mystery, truth is reality, as it can be known by the mind. That means wherever there is something real, even real creatures, there is some truth that we can discover. So, even finite truth is based on finite reality. The truth we know about the world is based on the real structure of the world. But where does the real structure of the world come from? Well, from God, of course. So not only is God the supreme reality, and therefore the supreme truth, God is also the source of all created realities, and therefore of all created truths. By choosing to create this world, permitting certain evils, bringing about greater goods, God is the reason this amazing story of the cosmos and of humanity exists. So all created truth comes from God and expresses the truth about God, which means that if you are really relentless in pursuing even the truth about the world, about created things, they will lead you back like a trail of breadcrumbs to God himself. Finite created truths will lead you to the infinite uncreated truth, if you are willing to follow them. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Speaker 2:
[11:28] Give us to stay our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[11:40] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[11:47] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[11:53] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[12:00] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[12:05] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[12:12] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[12:17] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[12:24] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[12:29] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[12:36] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[12:41] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[12:48] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[12:54] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[13:01] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[13:06] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[13:13] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[13:18] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[13:25] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[13:31] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[13:38] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[13:43] Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

Speaker 2:
[13:46] As it was in the beginning, as now and never shall be, world without end, Amen.

Speaker 1:
[13:51] Oh my Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[13:52] Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy.

Speaker 1:
[13:59] Our fourth mystery. In the last analysis, no Christian can be allied to those who aren't concerned with what's really true. There are a lot of folks out there, some of them very famous people, who are respectful toward Christianity, who think it has a lot to offer. They just don't think it's true. They think it's an interesting set of ideas, a lot of good insights, and they support Christianity as a cultural phenomenon. They're just not committed to it themselves. For a Christian, that attitude is always evasive, and ultimately cowardly. The question isn't, what ideas are interesting or historically relevant. The question is, what's true? If Christianity isn't the truth, then let's find the real truth. But if it is true, then let's embrace it fully and conform our minds and our lives to it completely. But don't be indifferent to the truth. You can never serve the god of truth that way. As the Catechism says, God is the source of all truth. His word is truth. His law is truth. Since God is true, his members are called to live in the truth. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, and it will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Speaker 2:
[15:43] Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[15:54] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[16:01] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[16:06] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[16:13] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[16:18] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[16:25] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[16:30] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[16:37] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[16:42] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[16:49] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[16:54] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[17:01] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[17:07] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[17:14] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[17:19] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[17:26] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[17:31] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[17:38] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[17:44] Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[17:51] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[17:56] Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

Speaker 2:
[17:59] As it was in the beginning, as now never shall be, world without end. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[18:03] Oh, my Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[18:04] Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy.

Speaker 1:
[18:11] Our fifth mystery. Truth is what our minds were made for. We were made to see the uncreated truth and to know the created truth that can lead us to him. But that means truth is also what our neighbors minds were made for. So, part of love means helping them to see the trail of truth and where it takes us, and never to put a barrier between our neighbors mind and the truth it was designed to follow. So, when giving us the Ten Commandments, the Lord declared that we must never bear false witness against our neighbor. That means we have to be fully committed to the truth both for ourselves and for others. Anything less, laziness about the truth, deceitfulness, gossip, the mindless acceptance of tired misinformation of the news and entertainment, and outright lying. Any of that will make you less of a Christian, and it will make you unfit for a relationship, a deep friendship with Jesus, who is the truth himself. Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Speaker 2:
[19:39] Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[19:50] Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[19:57] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[20:02] Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[20:09] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[20:14] Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[20:21] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[20:27] Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[20:33] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[20:38] Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[20:45] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death.

Speaker 1:
[20:51] Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[20:58] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[21:03] Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[21:10] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[21:15] Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[21:22] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[21:27] Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[21:34] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[21:39] Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[21:46] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earnst now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Speaker 1:
[21:51] Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

Speaker 2:
[21:54] As it was in the beginning as now never shall be, world without end, amen.

Speaker 1:
[21:59] Oh, my Jesus.

Speaker 2:
[22:00] Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy.

Speaker 1:
[22:08] St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, oh Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits, who prowl throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Speaker 2:
[22:31] Amen.

Speaker 1:
[22:33] Matrice, it's in two months we're going to be headed to Poland for our pilgrimage.

Speaker 2:
[22:42] Yes, we are.

Speaker 1:
[22:45] I'm starting to re-immersed myself in the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Faustina, John Paul II, and I'm getting really excited. So there's still seats left. So why don't you come with us, my friends, those of you praying with us, come with us to Poland and experience these great saints and one of my favorite places on the planet, the shrine of Our Lady of Częstochowa. Maybe the greatest shrine to Our Lady and the immense faith of the people there. We're going June 10th through the 19th. Just go to our website, schooloffaith.com, click on Pilgrimages, and come and join Teresa and I in Poland. So, Teresa, what struck you with this meditation?

Speaker 2:
[23:42] It's not the expected meditation on this commandment, but I did think it was a really interesting take on such a specific kind of cowardice I think we see all the time, which is the desire to not look directly at the truth, but also we all want to look like someone who does care or is trying. We want to look like we're in the process, but we never want to actually have to get there, so we kind of look at it out of the corner of our eyes. I've seen this so much with especially very young people, especially around teenage and college years, with the rise in agnosticism, because agnosticism reminds me a lot of you really want to look like someone who pursues the truth, but you really don't want the consequences of adhering to that. And I know very few, and this is not to say all people who are agnostic aren't searching for the truth, but I know very few who don't just stop at saying, I'm searching, and then they just, it's like going on a long journey, stopping at a gas station and moving into the gas station. You're like, oh, I'm traveling. I'm a traveler. It's like, no, you live here now. You don't actually want to travel. It's like the way I start a million good books and I never finish them, but I can always say, oh, I'm currently reading Plato's Republic. And it's like, I haven't picked it up in a while. I don't know if I'll finish Plato's Republic, but I can always say I'm reading it because I haven't finished. And this feels like how a lot of people feel about the truth right now.

Speaker 1:
[25:19] That's such a good point.

Speaker 2:
[25:19] Including us.

Speaker 1:
[25:21] Agnosticism is the idea, the false idea that you can't really know.

Speaker 2:
[25:29] That you can keep all the doors open. Maybe it's Islam, maybe it's Judaism, maybe it's one of the older Asian religion, of these different ideas of spirits and ancestors. Maybe it's one of those, but you can't know. So just kind of don't commit to any of them, but keep the door open to all of them. And it's not how it works. It's like, we've kind of used the metaphor at some point, a long time ago on the topic of commitment and the example of dating. You can't be like, well, I don't want to shut off the option of the right person. So I won't date anyone. I won't see anyone. I'm really keeping my doors open to everyone. And it's like, you're not seeing anyone.

Speaker 1:
[26:07] Exactly.

Speaker 2:
[26:08] That's not actually dating.

Speaker 1:
[26:10] Yeah. Agnosticism, this idea, you can't know, so don't try. But that is a lie. Agnosticism is cowardice because you can know. In fact, God designed your mind specifically to know the truth. And without the truth, your intellect will starve.

Speaker 2:
[26:41] And you have to actually try. It's not enough to look like you're trying or to tell yourself that you're trying.

Speaker 1:
[26:48] Because, yes, we can know the truth, and once we know it, then we must conform our behavior to it.

Speaker 2:
[26:59] Yeah. So it's an interesting examination of conscience because it's not just, am I lying to others? But it's kind of, am I lying to myself? Or are you refusing to look directly at the truth in your life, especially when it comes to bigger sins and the things that were like, as long as I don't learn about it, as long as I don't look too closely at my life, I'm not doing something too wrong because I don't know it's bad yet.

Speaker 1:
[27:25] Right. But it still is bad. When I went through my conversion in 1991, I had a lot of questions because I really didn't know anything about my faith. So all I had were questions. What I found was that there are answers, detailed, relevant, practical answers to everything. For example, we're in the Ninth Commandment, we're going to be taking, I'm sorry, we're in the Eighth Commandment, we're going to be taking the Ninth Commandment. The Ninth Commandment is going to address things like contraception, natural family planning, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, the Church's teaching on homosexual behavior, actions. I know very few Catholics who can articulate the teaching of Jesus on these things.

Speaker 2:
[28:44] Because a lot of people would say, well, it's not in the Bible, because Jesus didn't specifically say... He didn't, obviously, they didn't have in vitro fertilization and these things. But again, there's truth there that you can find.

Speaker 1:
[29:01] And then apply it to rationally to these...

Speaker 2:
[29:04] But not if you don't look for it.

Speaker 1:
[29:05] Right. So... Most Catholics cannot articulate the truth about these things. And so they're surprised, to a certain degree, when we touch upon them, because they haven't investigated them with diligence themselves.

Speaker 2:
[29:35] Which is not to say being originally ignorant is a problem or a sin, but to stop and not try to learn more, that's where we can get into a bit of trouble. Because it is important to, especially when these things are slowly encroaching on our lives and on our politics and on our friends and our family and...

Speaker 1:
[29:55] Well, not slowly, they took over in the late 60s.

Speaker 2:
[29:57] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[29:59] But it's not enough, what we're saying here is it's not enough just... We can't remain indifferent to the truth because it's going to take effort. Secondly, it's not enough just to know, we have to conform the way we live to the truth.

Speaker 2:
[30:17] Yeah. And that might begin in ignorance, but the education on it does start now.

Speaker 1:
[30:23] And then to go further that, it's not just religious truth that we want to know, we want to know the truth about the whole world. So your sister, Grace, is getting her PhD in physics. And the last time I had a physics class was in high school. I don't remember anything about physics. And I want to be able to have conversations with her. So I asked her, I need a couple of books on a crash course on physics. And I started reading just basic Newtonian physics. It was riveting. Because it shows how God designed the world, and it's such an amazing reflection of him.

Speaker 2:
[31:14] Wonder is a kind of love.

Speaker 1:
[31:16] But it might be truth about gardening. It might be truth about how the human person is made. I mean, even just the eye. If you ever look at, if you learn how the eye is designed, it's amazing.

Speaker 2:
[31:36] Even just, I think, learning about history is astounding.

Speaker 1:
[31:39] History.

Speaker 2:
[31:39] The way our stories all weave together. How we get here.

Speaker 1:
[31:48] We were made to consume truth. Like we were made to consume food, and without it, we starve. So what should our resolution be? What's a practical resolution?

Speaker 2:
[32:04] A, I think, to feed the mind with real truth and really pursue good knowledge. Just to learn and to love learning is actually a beautiful, beautiful resolution. Picking up a book on something that just genuinely fascinates you. It could be a manual. It could be non-fiction. It could be just something really captivating to learn about.

Speaker 1:
[32:27] Just for its own sake.

Speaker 2:
[32:28] Even taking classes, no matter what age you're at, you can go take classes on any subject. You can even just audit it. You can just go sit in, learning an instrument, learning how things work, but then also learning morality, how to actually apply it, committing to the things that before you've only tried to keep away from, because you don't want to know too much. You don't like the implication. Start now.

Speaker 1:
[33:00] Start. And it doesn't matter what age you are, start now. Yeah. But make the commitment to grow in truth and take the steps to do so. Thank you for the conversation.

Speaker 2:
[33:13] Thank you.

Speaker 1:
[33:13] And let's be apostles of friendship, good conversation, and the rosary. Share this with others.