Day 9: Love Rejoices In The Truth

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υνχαίρει (Synchairei) comes from sun and chairo meaning to rejoice with, congratulate, to sympathize in gladness (Strong's Greek 4796). This is a special kind of rejoicing–rejoicing-with–especially in the recovery of what was lost. "Coming home, he then calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent" (Luke 15:6-9). Love delights in the joy of another–Luke 1:58; in the honor of fellow-believers–1 Corinthians 12:26; and in the triumph of the truth, 1 Corinthians 13:6 (W.E. Vine).

Conscience and love are constant and inseparable companions. Where you find one, you ought to find the other. Until we have developed and formed conscience which serves as our moral compass, we cannot authentically love ourselves or the other in a healthy and mature way. Conscience and love could somehow fall into a chicken and egg or catch-22 situation. If something is in a catch-22 situation, it is impossible to deal with a problem because the solution is also the cause of the problem. To attempt to answer which came first, the chicken or egg, any solution is also a cause of the problem. The first line of Shakespeare's Sonnet 151 says, "Love is too young to know what conscience is; yet who knows not conscience is born of love?" Shakespeare affirms that love ought to be guided by a formed conscience and yet it is also equally true that growing up emotionally through various expressions of love gives birth to or forms one's conscience.

There is a third element that prevents love and conscience from falling into a catch-22 dilemma. This is the element of truth. Indeed, love rejoices in the truth which is exemplified through honesty, self-acceptance, sincerity, self-awareness, trust-worthiness, compassion and understanding. Conscience, on the other hand, is informed or guided by the truth from childhood to adulthood, e.g., to realize that we cannot have all for selfish aims. A conscience that is raised this way is released from the prison of just looking out for number one, and into looking out for others and truly loving them as oneself. Truth stands in the midst of love and conscience which serves like their backbone and sets them free. That is why love rejoices in the truth, yes, its pure delight. And Συνχαίρει (synchairei)–rejoicing with love's trusted companion is conscience, which also seeks out love's delight in the truth. Love, when seen in the context of truth, goes beyond merely doing no wrong to anyone nor avoiding evil. If you love someone, you will protect and treat the person with great reverence and respect. You will let the other person exercise his or her God-given freedom. You will not judge but you will show more compassion and mercy because you see the face of God clearly in the other. You are more forgiving. Conscience and genuine love move away from being too self-oriented to being both other-oriented and, above all, truth-oriented.

Our featured song is Justin Timberlake's "Mirrors." In an audio clip posted on his website, JT revealed that he dedicated the song to his wife, Jessica Biel, saying, “‘Mirrors’ is a love song to someone that you feel like is, you know, sort of your other half... One of the most valuable things in a relationship is being able to constantly change and be individual, but look to the other side to the person that you’re with and and know that they’re changing as well individually, but somehow you two can mirror each other and be the other half of that world that you both create.”

Fr JM Manzano SJ