It is not easy to know the truth, whether it is the truth behind the “fake news” we find every day or the more profound truth of Jesus Christ. The good news is that it is possible to know the truth, but according to Pope Benedict XVI, we must become “little.”
He explains in a homily during Advent in 2009 how being “little” is the key to wisdom.
Then there is the other way of using reason, of being wise that of the man who recognizes who he is; he recognizes the proper measure and greatness of God, opening himself in humility to the newness of God’s action. It is in this way, precisely by accepting his own smallness, making himself little as he really is, that he arrives at the truth.
Pope Benedict points out such saints as St. Therese of Lisieux as examples of those who were “little” and arrived at the truth.
Here is the prayer he concluded his homily with, asking God for the grace to be “little” and find true wisdom.
Let us now pray that the Lord will give us true humility. May he give us the grace of being little in order to be truly wise; may he illumine us, enable us to see his mystery in the joy of the Holy Spirit. May he help us to be true theologians who can proclaim his mystery because we are touched in the depths of our hearts, of our very existence. Amen.
And today we celebrate...