I once had a banner which contained the words of Jesus: “The Truth will set you free.” In small print under the picture were the words: “but first it will make you miserable.” The Catholic Church in the US experienced the bite of truth in confronting the clerical abuse scandal. An unwillingness to confront the truth of priests who offended made a sad situation into a terrible one. It was only after being made miserable in acknowledging the litany of offenses that the Church was freed to offer genuine witness to the gospel. In so many areas the truth makes us miserable — e.g., repairing the damage we are doing to the environment will make us miserable in the short term but it’s the truth.
