Hopefully heading toward the Good News

Let's hope that all this discussion about what is real news as differentiated from fake news will lead us to the conclusion that the Good News of Christ's gospel is the real news meant for all men for all time and for all situations.

It is what should always be proclaimed and upheld as we go through the different events and issues of our life. It is what contains the answers to all our questions, the solutions to all our problems including the humanly insoluble ones. It is what gives meaning and purpose to everything in our life. It is what relates everything to God, our Creator and Father, our source and end.

No amount of academic and intelligent discussion about this issue can really help us to distinguish fake news from real news if God, the gospel and everything the gospel teaches, like charity, sincerity, justice, mercy, compassion, etc., are marginalized. Without God, we would be left with a very limited and even subjective view of reality.

We need to overcome the bias that in our temporal and mundane affairs any appeal to God and to religion is out of place. Quite the contrary is true. With God at the center, we would know how to discover, pursue, affirm, and defend the truth in charity. Without God, we would just be left to our own devices, our own rationalizations.

Let's remember that God is the source of all truth. That's why Christ said, "Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice." (Jn 18,37) And that's because Christ is the Son of God who became man to redeem us. As such, he is the fullness of the revelation of God, of the Truth, to all of us!

And what would happen if we put God aside in the pursuit of truth and enlightenment in our earthly discussions? Let's quote some words of St. Paul to give us an idea what will happen.

"Whoever teaches something different and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the religious teaching," he said, "is conceited, understanding nothing, and has a morbid disposition for arguments and verbal disputes.

"From these come envy, rivalry, insults, evil suspicions, and mutual friction among people with corrupted minds, who are deprived of the truth, supposing religion to be a means of gain." (1Tim 6,3-4)

I consider these Pauline words as spot-on in describing the toxic environment we have at the moment in the field of politics especially, and also of the media.

We need to remember that if not inspired by the Good News of Christ's gospel, any piece of news cannot be part of the Good News. It can only be a fake news, driven by worldly and suspicious motives. If not inspired by the charity of God, then any fact, data or opinion, no matter how objective and fair-sounding, cannot achieve the status of the truth, since truth and charity are inseparable.

Again let's hope that the futility of our discussion of issues without God at the center can lead us to the realization that only with God can we be in the truth. It's only with God can we have real news and fair opinions.

‘We need to remember that if not inspired by the Good News of Christ's gospel, any piece of news cannot be part of the Good News. It can only be a fake news, driven by worldly

and suspicious motives.’