TRUTH, FREEDOM, AND CARE INSPIRATIONS
TRUTH, FREEDOM, AND CARE INSPIRATIONS
Scripture
The truth will set you free to love.
If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free … I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another … Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me.
— Jn 8:31b-32; 13:34; 14:21
In freedom, be obedient to the truth for the sake of love.
Since you have purified yourselves by obedience to the truth for sincere mutual love, love one another intensely from a [pure] heart.
— 1 Pt 1:22
Freedom is for the sake of loving others in truth.
For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery … for you were called for freedom, brothers. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather serve one another through love.
— Gal 5:1, 13
Live truth in love to grow in freedom.
Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way in him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body’s growth and builds itself up in love.
— Eph 4:15-16
Quotes
The intellect’s reason is for truth. The will’s volition is for freedom toward goodness. The hearts’s affection is for love.
Let us admit that in man there exists a triad of spiritual centers – intellect, will, and heart – which are ordained to cooperate and to fecundate one another … Reason’s true and ultimate mission [is] to recognize the truth and to inquire what we should do, what is the morally right thing to do … similarly, free will in its ultimate meaning [is] it’s being destined to conform to morally relevant values and to their call … The true use of his freedom [is] the ‘yes’ to the call embedded in morally relevant goods and the ‘no’ to morally relevant evils … To see the role and the rank of the heart and of the affective sphere in its highest manifestations, we have to look at man's life, at his quest for earthly happiness … Can anyone doubt that the deepest source of earthly happiness is the authentic, deep, mutual love between persons, be it conjugal love or friendship?
— Dr. Dietrich von Hildebrand, The Heart: An Analysis of Human And Divine Affectivity (pgs. 19, 33, 16), 1965
Live truth through openness and faith, freedom through responsible choices and hope, and care through warm friendship and charity.
Truth: Honesty, openness in communication, and mutual trust are integral parts of the CLC commitment. By following the truthfulness and radical openness of Christ, members are inspired to a deeper FAITH in God and a greater sense of accountability to one another.
Freedom: Responsible choices, achieved through a strong personal discipline, are the foundation of true freedom. This freedom enables members to make a commitment to Christ, and to live a life filled with HOPE, the same hope that is destroyed by impulsive and irresponsible choices.
Care: Care embodied in warmth and friendship fosters unconditional love and Christian charity. Inspired by Christ’s sacrificial love, CLC members are challenged to outwardly show their support and LOVE for God and each other.
— Dr. Eduardo Azcárate, Y.A. & Beatriz Hernandez, Youth Apostles’ Catholic Life Community (CLC) Moderator Handbook, 1974
Jesus is our Freedom and He unites us to the Spirit of Love and Truth.
… before all men can be brought together and restored to the grace of God our Father, communion must be reestablished between those who by faith have acknowledged and accepted Jesus Christ as the Lord of mercy who sets men free and unites them in the Spirit of love and truth.
— Pope St. Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi (#77), 1975
Jesus shows us how to live in love, truth, and freedom.
Inspired and strengthened by the Lord‘s example of love, truth, and freedom, we have responded to his call to discipleship by accepting to become brothers in the Truth, free to love as he loved.
— Youth Apostles General Statutes, 1979
Truth, freedom, and love are inseparable, especially in the Spirit of Truth, Freedom, and Love.
Truth enlightens man’s intelligence and shapes his freedom, leading him to know and love the Lord ... we must not be content merely to warn the faithful about the errors and dangers of certain ethical theories. We must first of all show the inviting splendour of that truth which is Jesus Christ himself. In him, who is the Truth (cf. Jn 14:6), man can understand fully and live perfectly, through his good actions, his vocation to freedom in obedience to the divine law summarized in the commandment of love of God and neighbour. And this is what takes place through the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, of freedom and of love: in him we are enabled to interiorize the law, to receive it and to live it as the motivating force of true personal freedom: "the perfect law, the law of liberty (Jas 1:25).
— Pope St. John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor (Blessing and #83), 1993
Living in love frees us, yet love and truth also need each other.
… Only those who commit themselves to the love of Christ become truly free … The Lord is waiting for you to put your freedom in his good hands … the love of Christ and human freedom are intertwined, because love and truth have an intrinsic relationship … truth and love need each other.
— Pope St. John Paul II, Homily at the Canonization of Edith Stein, 1998
Mary teach us to follow Jesus in truth, freedom, and love.
Let us look at Mary Most Holy. A humble Handmaid of the Lord, the Virgin is the model of a spiritual person who is totally free because she is immaculate, immune to sin and all holy, dedicated to the service of God and neighbour. May she help us with her motherly care to follow Jesus, to know the truth and to live freedom in love.
— Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus, July 1, 2007
God is Truth and Love, and He invites us to freely accept Him on a path of development toward goodness and true happiness.
Truth, and the love which it reveals, cannot be produced: they can only be received as a gift. Their ultimate source is not, and cannot be, mankind, but only God, who is himself Truth and Love. This principle is extremely important for society and for development, since neither can be a purely human product; the vocation to development on the part of individuals and peoples is not based simply on human choice, but is an intrinsic part of a plan that is prior to us and constitutes for all of us a duty to be freely accepted. That which is prior to us and constitutes us — subsistent Love and Truth — shows us what goodness is, and in what our true happiness consists. It shows us the road to true development.
— Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate (#52), 2009
Truth and love beget freedom.
When the light of truth becomes dim along the path, it is important to turn up the intensity of the other spotlight, that of love … We need both truthfulness and love to grow in freedom. If both lights fail at the same time we are [at] great risk of falling away from virtue and away from the road that leads to heaven. It is important to pray that if such a moment [comes], that God’s grace will be abundant to recharge our light, and that others will be willing to extend their loving hand and offer us some of their light so we can find the path once again and move forward toward greater freedom.
— Dr. Eduardo Azcárate, Y.A., Building Truthful Relationships (pgs. 202-203), 2017
Love needs freedom, yet truth and love are the same, so truth needs freedom.
Love necessarily implies freedom, and freedom (free will) necessarily implies the possibility of the free choice of No over Yes, of “no God“ over God, and thus of Hell over Heaven … Ultimately, truth and love are the same thing. Our ultimate happiness is not merely an act of contemplation of Truth, nor is it merely an act of the will affirming, accepting, and rejoicing in God‘s love: it is simultaneously both, experienced as one and the same thing … Hell is truth hated. Heaven is truth loved.
— Dr. Peter Kreeft, Wisdom of the Heart (pgs. 166-168), 2020
Freedom is the fruition of living in truth and love.
Freedom for excellence and flourishing involves growth in the human capacities to know truth and reality, to choose good, and to avoid evil, and ultimately to love God and neighbor.
— Drs. Vitz, Nordling, & Titus, The Catholic Christian Meta-Model of the Person (pg. 42), 2020