Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

John 8:31-42

Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him,
“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham
and have never been enslaved to anyone. 
How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
A slave does not remain in a household forever,
but a son always remains. 
So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.
I know that you are descendants of Abraham.
But you are trying to kill me,
because my word has no room among you. 
I tell you what I have seen in the Father’s presence;
then do what you have heard from the Father.”

They answered and said to him, “Our father is Abraham.” 
Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children,
you would be doing the works of Abraham. 
But now you are trying to kill me,
a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God;
Abraham did not do this.
You are doing the works of your father!”
So they said to him, “We were not born of fornication. 
We have one Father, God.” 
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me,
for I came from God and am here;
I did not come on my own, but he sent me.”

Reflection

We have often heard the phrase “the truth will set you free“. The opposite of truth is a lie. If the truth sets us free, then it is lies that enslave us.

When we fall into temptation, we are deceived into committing sin. We are given a false promise of happiness. If sin was ugly, we would not be tempted at all. Sin is very attractive but the more we engage it, the more we feel an emptiness in the soul. I guess we can liken sin to an addictive drug. Thinking about it, it reminds me of a phrase from the popular song Just Like a Pill by Pink

And I swear you’re just like a pill
‘Stead of makin’ me better, you keep makin’ me ill
You keep makin’ me ill

from the song Just Like a Pill by Pink

Jesus sheds light and exposes the truth about sinfulness and reveals its ugly nature.

Only Jesus delivers true happiness and freedom from the shackles of sin. Jesus has already freed us, but we have to willingly accept this gift of freedom by severing our affections for sin.

So which one do you prefer? Truth or lie? You can only choose one.

Action

Because it’s hard to resist temptation, what can we do today to avoid occasions of sin?

Rev. Fr. Geety Reyes, FCM

Associate Pastor at St. Francis of Assisi American National Catholic Church