My daily devotionals brought me to the Gospel of St. John, Chapter14, Verse17:
"If thou wilt know the truth, believe in Me." (Christ said.)
Deep down, we all seek peace and truth. But how do we know where to find peace and seek the truth? Christ always demands, to get those things from Him. Not from men, but Him alone, for He is Truth.
Yes, because men can be mistaken or misinformed, or worse have ill-intent or inclined to spread untruth.
And this includes all men, including those held as responsible and truthful, or held reverently by people because of their position or office.
Men are still men! And thus, still flawed.
Thus, even with the Papacy, we say the Pope is infallible only when he teaches matters of faith and morals, and ex cathedra; but he is not impeccable, and thus could be wrong in other matters.
Maybe like putting trust, confidence, or support in people who are purportedly upright and righteous. In matters like those, his judgment is just as good as any, any person who has studied certain matters and has acquired expertise in such matters. And admittedly, our reality has proved this to be so and true.
Thus, it is incumbent upon each one of us to search for truth in all places, even in unlikely places, since during these times, truth has become harder to discover and discern.
We cannot anymore be satisfied with getting our dose of truth from our familiar and comfortable places, but to stretch our search beyond that. And to get tired and dirty searching for it.
And as familiarly intoned, get out of your comfort zones!
But we of course know that truth is one and indivisible. There are no sides to truth, but there are other sides other than truth.
As we can see, all this contributes to the confusion, dread, and fears that we witness in the world today. Adding the many dreadful manifestations that we somehow find commonality with everybody else in the world today.
In the early days of our Church, the devout exercises of our Faith to pursue our personal sanctification were considered more than sufficient and we then expected God to do the rest. Thus, in the Church there was a proliferation of monasteries, religious orders, and other institutions promoting monastic life. All geared at very ascetic practices to purify the soul.
But in imitation of Christ, we are also tasked with apostolic duties, to preach the gospels and spread the truth to all. More than just a passive exercise of our Faith, we need to actively pursue this apostolate.
The search for truth is simply a leg of our journey. Having acquired it, there is the need to spread it to the rest of the world. We cannot stand idly by when we see untruth spread like wildfire in the world.
If we are privileged to have learned it, it behooves then for us to pass it around.