The Truth Will Set You Free.
This week we celebrated the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul on June 29. It is a special day for our parish under the patronage of St. Peter, but also for the universal Church as these Apostles are founders of the Church of Rome, from where the faith spread to much of the world.
The Apostles who preached the Gospel were not simply spreading a new religion: they were proclaiming the truth revealed by God that is the foundation of human freedom.
There cannot be any freedom without truth. Truth tells us who we are, what we are made for, and how to respond to our calling to eternal happiness. The world offers all sorts of answers to these questions: you are whatever you choose to be; you are made to work for money so that you can buy things; you are a slave to your passions; you are the sum of your failures; you are alone. None of that is true, and no one can live by lies and also be free. The truth will set you free: knowing that you are created by God for knowing, loving, and serving him in this life and being happy with him forever in the life to come. Happiness in this life depends on knowing and living this truth, which is the source of authentic freedom.
St. Peter and St. Paul gave testimony to Jesus Christ by their words and actions so that the whole world could know the truth. It is fitting that we celebrate these great apostles the week before our Independence Day, because their mission made the truth of the Gospel known to the world and that truth is the source of true freedom.
-Fr. Nate
