THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION THE SUREST MEANS OF

HOLINESS

WEEK 4 INTEGRITY

DAY 1

A man of integrity is an honest man that is he is truthful and can be trusted It is an

essential part of our humanity that we are born for truth. There is an inborn longing for
ever greater fullness of truth. We are “in the truth” and growing in the truth when we
open ourselves to “that sincere longing that is an echo of our calling”. We are truly free
when we respond to the revelation of God’s love in Jesus Christ when we allow his
words to dwell in us and to guide us. “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set
you free” (Jn 8:32)
Our being in the truth is an ongoing process of purification and conversion which
is our response to the light of Christ , the eternal truth shining on us and in us. But like
Paul when we compare our knowledge and response to what Christ has done for us and
in us we realize how earnestly we must strive. “I have not yet reached perfection, but I
press on hoping to take hold of that for which Christ once took hold of me “ (Phil 3:12).
To the extent that we allow the truth (Christ) to take hold of us to that extent we come
closer to the truth (Christ) and to truthfulness, and thus discover the hidden truth of our
own being and our highest possibilities.

Prayer:
Jesus you are the truth. Help me to respond to your call today. Help me to obey
you as you speak to me in all the circumstances of my life today that you may
lead me to the complete truth.

DAY 2

In order to arrive at truthfulness a person must first of all be truthful in his

thinking or thoughts. Truthfulness means accepting reality- what God says and how God
created things to be ( the nature that God has imposed on his creation)
Without truthfulness the proper development of the human, social life and religion
are impossible. Man and society cannot progress if the facts and laws of reality upon
which progress must built are concealed, misrepresented or ignored. Man must therefore
accept the truth which confronts him in various ways and earnestly seek to find it. There
is an obligation to seek the truth according to ones capacity and means failure of which
means one is committing a sin. According to Vatican II, “All men should be at once
impelled by nature and also bound by a moral obligation to seek the truth especially
religious truths. They are also bound to adhere to the truth, once it is known, and to order
their lives in accordance to the demands of the truth”. With this duty corresponds the
right of every man “to search for the truth, voice his mind and publicize it”.
One of the basic demands of truthfulness is the courage to face up to the truth
within oneself. A person can mask his true being and intentions, not only before others
but also before himself. He can blind himself to his real motive, deceive himself as to his
true obligations and escape into a world of unreal appearance. In order to counter this
state of self deception and alienation a person must learn to be radically honest with
himself. This requires humble self-acceptance and sincere acknowledgement of once
limitations. It likewise requires the readiness to conversion wherever and wherever a
person finds himself at fault. Interior truthfulness presupposes humble self- denial free
from pride.

Prayer:
Lord help me to clarify my thoughts today. Let no untruthfulness cross my
thoughts today. Grant me the grace to admit when I go wrong and think of
wrong things and evil thoughts and direct me to the right thoughts. Help me to
be true to you, myself and others and especially not to deceive myself and others
for you cannot be deceived.

DAY 3

A person’s actions must be true. That is they must conform to or agrees to the
Principles he upholds and the faith he professes. Truthfulness in conduct means that a
person acts and lives in conformity with his thoughts and words. Holy Scripture speaks of
those who belong to God “ to do the truth “, “to walk in the truth” and to obey it. The
meaning of these expressions is to live in faithfulness to God’s laws and in accordance to
the demands of faith.
Truthfulness demands that a man be able to face up to disagreeable situations
without evading them. It requires submitting to criticism of others without yielding to
strong dislike and desires of retaliation or even killing as pertains in our country. The
truthful man- a man of integrity – takes the opinion of others seriously and is ready to
acknowledge his own errors and mistakes.
Untruthfulness are all actions which contradicts the recognized truth and the
convictions of a person’s faith. Opposed to truthfulness is HYPOCRISY which imitates
virtuous behaviour in externals deeds whiles the real motives are different. Christ
condemned the Pharisees for this. He reproached them for practicing their piety and good
works, such as alms giving, fasting and meticulous observance of the law, not for the
sake of God and the needy neighbour but in order to receive praise from men
(Mt 6:1-8; 23).
Every Christian must bear witness to the truth by our thoughts words and actions.
It is our obligation.

Prayer:
Lord help me to able to face up to the criticisms of others and to admit that I
could be wrong in my thoughts words and deeds. Lord, remove hypocrisy in my
life and purify my motives.

DAY 4

The words we speak are in some ways expressions of our knowledge or what we
know. Whatever we speak or comes out of our mouths should agree with what we are
thinking and what we know. Justice, reverence and love require that we speak the truth.
To do otherwise means to tell lies and lies deny the truth to another but in addition
induces him to believe in what is not true thus leading him to error. When we tell lies to
our neighbour he accepts facts and relies on securities which in reality do not exists. If he
acts on this basis he will suffer harm himself or cause harm to others. Reliance on the
truthfulness of the statements and assertions of others is an essential condition for
beneficial coexistence, fruitful cooperation and efficiency of work.
Fraternal love obliges us to help others in their needs and also obliges us to share
the truth with them. Every lie treats the other as not worthy of the truth or not entitled to
the truth. This offends against the dignity of the other as a person of equal value and
right. Intellectual and moral fellowship can only thrive where the truth is respected.
Truth has to be acquired and acted upon by each person individually. And since it
is the highest social good, we cannot be true in our thinking, words and actions unless we
committed to speaking the truth. It is the responsibility of us all to bring about the best
way for the search of truth and for its communication. We should therefore not condone
lies in our communities.

Prayer:
Lord help me to respect all men as of equal dignity and right as myself and help
me to speak the truth to them and endeavour to share the truth with them at all times
for our mutual growth in Jesus.

DAY 5

Even though there is an obligation to be always truthful in ones words, one is not
obliged and often not even permitted to impart all the truth one knows. A man of integrity
must also be a man of discretion. Christ was absolutely truthful but he proclaimed the
mystery of God only gradually to men and not to all. He warns us not to throw our| pearls
before swine” (Mt 7:6)
Speech must be community-forming and community-sustaining. This forbids us
to use truth and to reveal it in a manner which possibly or certainly will prove detrimental
to others, unless values of a still higher order justifies this. Every word of truth must be
guarded by discretion and prudence. The person in possession of the truth must prudently
weigh whether its revelation will be truly edifying, bridge over differences, build
community and contribute to the greater glory of God; or on the contrary whether it will
create confusion, divide and prove destructive.
Even the sincere and upright man must conceal many things because of
consideration for his neighbour and the need to protect himself and others against abuse.

Prayer:
Lord grant me the grace to know when to speak and when to keep quiet. Help
me always to build up people and communities and not to destroy.

DAY 6
 Fidelity is that virtue by which a person remains true to his convictions word and
promise. In a special way fidelity or faithfulness obliges one to fulfill the promises which
a person explicitly or implicitly has made. Truthfulness is the man who is faithful to God
and his neighbour. Truthfulness of speech obliges a person to keep harmony between his
words and thoughts. Faithfulness bids him to keep his deeds in harmony with his words
Man’s faithfulness to God is a fundamental moral duty. Faithfulness to God
necessary includes and demands faithfulness to men. The more intimate a personal
relation, the more must it be characterized by fidelity, such as filial and parental fidelity,
conjugal fidelity, fidelity in friendship.
The chief characteristic of fidelity is the element of stability in a person’s actions.
Fidelity in relation to others is an essential foundation of mutual trust and personal and
social security. These are important preconditions for the happiness of life, the
fruitfulness of common work and the safe development of the individual as well as the
society. In this regard fidelity resembles truthfulness. Infidelity on the other hand
undermines mutual trust, destroys solidarity and rends the bonds which assure mutual
assistance and good will
Fidelity proves itself most especially in the fulfillment of the promise a person has
made.
Prayer:
Lord we live a world of deceitfulness, where we have decided to be unfaithful to
one another and therefore our society is crumbling down. Children and parents are not
faithful to each other, husbands and wives are not faithful to each other. Friends
deceive and kill each other. Lord help me to be faithful from today onwards and to
fulfill all the promises I make as far it is humanly possible.