When I was about 15 years old, I asked my parents for and received my very own copy of the Bible. I had recently learned that the Bible is the Word of God — that it contains the truth of God revealed to the world. I wanted my own copy so I could read it whenever I wanted, as much as I wanted, and from cover to cover. I wanted to know the truth about who I am, who God is, and about how I should live my life.
During that first Bible read-through, I didn’t understand a lot of what I was reading. But there were what you might call “bright spots” in my reading, where the glorious, liberating Truth shone forth for me. Over time, I found that the truth was setting me free, by giving me more and more good reasons to believe that God was with me, that I was His beloved son, and that life was worth living.
Hi! I’m Mark Hornbacher. I’m happy to present to you lesson one of module two of the online Basic Evangelization Training. The module is “One Good Reason,” and the lesson is, “Introduction to One Good Reason.”
Our Lord Jesus taught, “For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice” (Jn 18:37). He also said, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32). Can I share one more? Saint Paul, the great apostle of Jesus, wrote that “God desires all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4).
Truth is so important to life. Many people seek to know the truth, so that they might know how they should live. Many people also try to build their lives, intentionally, around what they have come to believe is the truth. But all of us, by the way that we live, reveal what it is that we really believe to be true.
Parts of the truth are to be found all around us, but Jesus Christ came into the world as the Voice of Truth Itself. The voice of God. Because of Christ, the fullness of truth can be found — in the ways of life and the teaching of the Catholic Church.
We know that what the Church teaches is true because Jesus formed it and gave it a share in His authority — called “the power of the keys” — and promised that “the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). He also told the Apostles, “He who hears you, hears Me” (Luke 10:16).
So, what is the truth? What has Christ revealed?
The truth is that God exists. He created the material world and everything in it. The pinnacle of creation is the human race because we’re made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27).
The truth is that we’ve sinned and separated ourselves from God. We lost the divine life for which we were created.
The truth is that God loved us so much that He sent His Son to make atonement for our sins by His death, and to rise from the dead; that through lives of faith, we might be saved and have our share in the divine life restored — and even increased!
The truth is that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, established a Church — an Assembly of those who believe in Him — to continue His saving mission on earth. That Church is the Catholic Church. It has the authority to teach in His name and has been given Sacraments — sacred signs — to give us the power to grow in union with God and avoid falling away from the life He promised us.
The truth is that it’s everyone’s destiny to become a saint; to become a true son or daughter of God. This means that it’s vital to pray every day, to do the good works of a Christian, to worship God in Christ — both in liturgy and in private — to receive the Sacraments frequently, and to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to everyone that we can. These things bring meaning to our lives as children of God and members of the Body of Christ. Nothing else will truly satisfy us.
With all these truths in mind, our “One Good Reason” method — a tool for conversational evangelization — was born.
Let’s listen to Brian Lee, our Director of Evangelization Teams, tell the story.