Become a Co-Worker of the Truth*

Become a Co-Worker of the Truth*
In pursuit of the truth – www.cinopsbegone.com – Monday, January 3, 2011

“Soon after my consecration as bishop in 1977, Sister Irene Grassl approached me (Bishop Ratzinger) with the suggestion that I compile from my various writings a kind of breviary of reflection for each day of the year. The title finally chosen for the compilation also conveys my reason for undertaking it. I believe that a work of this kind can, on its own way, contribute to the fulfillment of the promise implicit in the motto from the third epistle of St. John, verse 8, that I adopted for my coat of arms: “Co-Workers of the Truth”.

“For John, these words signify the participation of all the faithful in the service of the Gospel and, by consequence the “catholic” dimension of the faith: the “elder”, as he designates himself, calls upon the faithful to extend hospitality to all who come as messengers of the Faith…

“For me it becomes another way of expressing the task of the bishop: he too and especially he, is a “co-worker”, that is he does not act in his own name but always and totally linked to a “with.” “Only when he acts ‘with’ Christ and ‘with’ the whole believing Church of all times and all places does he do what he is meant to do. It is not his task to fashion a community for himself, but, rather, to fashion the Church of Christ.

“That means that he must point to him who is the Way because he is the Truth. (Jn 14:6)… A mere community of interests without truth would be just a drug, not a healing. Perhaps, in the last analysis, the crucial element in the unfathomable expression “co-workers of the truth” is the relationship between truth and love. It is my hope, that this book will indeed prove to be a co-worker of the truth”… to awaken in us the courage to become co-workers.”

George H. Kubeck * Preface to the book, “Co-Workers of the Truth” – Meditations for Every Day of the New Year, by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, 1992, Ignatius Press, San Francisco

P.S. All are invited to proclaim the truth. The truth isn’t very popular today. Be not afraid. We need the truth in order to survive as a nation and save the integrity of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Persons will hate you for expressing it. But truth is a breadth of fresh air not only in religion but in the secular world we live in. My focus is not only about political correctness but also religious correctness (an intellectual emotional mindset) which has tried and in many ways succeeded in conning the U.S. Catholic Church for decades.