Our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ continues in St. John's Gospel to
remonstrate with his own people and perhaps the greatest tragedy of all in the case of
those who remained unconverted is they were really blind to their own situation and our
Lord was unable to, in some instances at least, many instances, was unable to deliver
them.
He was unable to deliver them from that blindness and I say that because just in general for
all of us, our problem, the biggest problems that we have spiritually and morally don't
consist in the fact that we make mistakes but that we sometimes don't learn from our
mistakes or that we're not even aware or on the contrary that we're blind.
We're blind to the fact that we are making mistakes even though in God's providence he
provides us with the means to know the truth and to receive correction.
For example, one of the things in religious life that is very necessary to be able to
go forward in the spiritual life is to be able to accept correction, to accept it docilely
and go forward.
We have to all be, to be teachable.
And when our Lord comes into the world as the fulfillment of all the prophets, you know,
the great prophet who reveals the fullness of the truth, he sometimes has to tell us
things that we don't want to hear.
He has to tell us what our faults are and what the truth is and how we are to achieve
our salvation.
And so he says to them,
in a spirit of exhortation but also of an expression of a desire to encourage, by way of
encouragement, he says, 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.
So he wants to deliver them from their sinfulness.
And they're ignorant, but he does it in this encouraging a way by telling them that if you listen to me, you will be my disciples, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.
But their immediate reaction is to say, we're not slaves.
You know, we are free.
We're not slaves.
What are you trying to say to us?
They're immediately offended by what our Lord is saying to them.
They don't just disagree.
It's what our Lord says to them.
They're offended by what he says.
They say, we are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone, which is not entirely true.
You know, they were in Egypt and were, in fact, slaves, you know, as children of Abraham.
But aside from that, you know, our Lord explains to them, yeah, well,
that's not entirely true.
You are slaves of sin.
You are at the mercy of the evil one because you are under his power and you cooperate with his works of darkness.
And one of the works of darkness that Satan works in the hearts of men is to instill a lack of faith.
And this is precisely what's happening to them.
The devil is.
He's trying to pull the wool over their eyes so that they cannot see the truth.
I heard one gentleman explain this phrase of our Lord by kind of explaining the way in which, you know, our Lord's words.
You will know the truth and the truth will set you free, that it's both an encouraging thing, but it's also a difficult thing.
He says, he said.
Yes, the truth will set us free, but first it has to make us miserable.
And that's really we don't want to hear some things that are true.
We would like to hear the things that make us make us feel good and console us and affirm us.
We don't want to be told that we are sinners.
We don't want to be told that we're on the road to hell.
For example, the homosexuals in this in this state, at least the ones that are.
Running the statehouse don't want to be told that homosexuality is a sin and offensive to God.
And it's pretty clear that what's going down at the statehouse is really all about that.
It's about the fact that they consider anyone who considers homosexuality to be a sin is a bigot and a hateful person.
Whereas it's just exactly exactly the opposite from the point of view.
Of our Lord to remain silent about the truth in the face of someone's potential loss of life or more importantly, loss of eternal life for, you know, for all eternity would be the the wicked, uncharitable and unconscionable thing to do to prevent someone from death from, you know, from finding death when one is able to do so is a wicked thing.
So, you know, the Jews in this case, the hearers of our Lord, throw the blame on him when he comes to set them free.
They immediately turn around and blame him.
He's the problem.
He's the problem.
How dare you say that we are slaves?
We are the children of Abraham.
And yet Abraham believed God.
It was credited to him as righteousness.
We are told in the letter of the Hebrews because he believed and he believed so much that he was willing even to sacrifice his own son that was promised to be the source of his progeny because God asked it of him.
And all our Lord was asking them to do was to believe he wasn't asking them to sacrifice their own sons.
He wasn't asking them to give up anything but their sins.
And to trust him.
He was there in their midst.
He was present to them.
He wanted to save them from their sins.
He was willing to do anything for them.
And all he asked is that they put their faith in him and that they trust that they trust him.
And instead, they were offended and sought to kill him.
I know that you are the descendants of Abraham.
Our Lord tells them.
But you are trying to kill me.
Because my word has no meaning.
There is 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.
And they go on.
And in the end, he comes back and our Lord says to him,
If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works of Abraham.
But now you are trying to kill me.
So he keeps reiterating the problem.
The problem here.
All I'm asking you to do is make an act of faith like Abraham.
And instead, you are.
You're antagonistic.
You are offended by the truth.
And you're seeking to kill me because I'm telling you the truth.
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.
And he means their Satan.
Their father is Satan, he's saying to them.
So they said to him, we are not born of fornication.
We have one God, one father God.
So now.
Not only is Abraham their father.
They're claiming to have God as their father.
When in fact, the one standing in front of them is the son of God.
Jesus said to them, if God were your father, you would love me.
For I came from God and I'm here.
I did not come of my own, but he sent me.
So he came in the name of God.
And he wasn't doing his own will, his own human will.
But he was coming to do the will of his heavenly father.
And the will of the heavenly father.
His mercy and salvation.
This is why he come.
Even to the point that if they did not believe.
And sought his death.
That he would accept that death.
And offer it as the means of salvation.
So in the end, their malice brings about our salvation.
In spite of themselves.
So we can see this dynamic.
In the lives of these men.
Who hurt their father.
Who hurt our Lord.
Preach.
And the dynamic goes on in the world in which we live.
And it goes on within our own hearts.
And we have to be docile.
We have to be open to the truth.
And not offended by it.
Sometimes we are made uncomfortable.
And we don't always feel good about ourselves.
When we compare our own lives.
To the truth that our Lord speaks to us.
That the church speaks to us.
And that's the way life is.
Our Lord loves us enough.
To tell us the truth.
Even when we don't want to hear it.
And so when we find ourselves in that situation.
Where the truth is hard to hear.
That's an opportunity of grace.
For us to humble ourselves.
And to open ourselves up more.
To the grace of God.
And to go forward.
In the spiritual life.
And we should begin with ourselves.
Hopefully we can be instruments of grace for other people.
And if there are people who have hard hearts.
Don't want to hear the truth.
Or are offended by the truth.
And begin to accuse Christ.
And Christians.
And the church.
And us for saying what is right.
Well then we have a sacrifice to offer.
Because as our Lord told the women on the road to Jerusalem.
On the day he died.
He said if they do this.
To the wood while it is green.
What will they do to it.
When it is dry.
So the fact that.
That sometimes the truth doesn't go down.
Easily in the world in which we live.
Is just the way things have always been.
It shouldn't dissuade us.
From speaking it.
In the least.
Should not dissuade us.
But we should be encouraged.
To follow Christ.
And to suffer for his name.
Because.
He has promised that those who do so.
Will be blessed.
And that blessing.
We experience now.
As we unite our lives.
And our sacrifices.
To Jesus in the Eucharist.
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Translated by Ignacio Crusadero