Our Lord speaks at the end of today's Gospel of his mission, that is, his being sent by
the Father, and he is sent in order to claim the chosen people, that they may abide in his truth.
And so, our Lord puts a clear emphasis here that we must abide in truth, and truth is all that
Jesus Christ has taught us, and all that he has taught us to do. And so, we must strive each and
every day of our lives to put God above all things, as in today's first reading, we learn
from the three young men, that if they put God above all things, then God will truly be their
protector, whether he preserves us through a miracle, as he did with the three young men,
or he simply gives us the grace to endure all that we are to suffer in this life, he is always with
us if we abide in his truth. And so, the Pharisees and the scribes refused to abide in the truth,
and while they claimed descent from Abraham, they truly were not sons of Abraham,
because Abraham worshipped on Mount Moriah, and he worshipped the one true God, and did what the
one true God had told him to do. And so, our Lord is saying what really determines our kinship with
him is whether we do what he has told us. And so, during this season of Lent, we strive to
grow each and every day in our faith, and strive by our penances to make reparation to God for our
sins.
For we know when the Lord gives the universal rule of sin, and that when we fall into it,
we become slaves of the sin, has one singular exception, that is, his blessed mother. And so,
all of us are truly not born free men, but we are born slaves, slaves because we are born in the
state of original sin, and until baptism expunges that sin, we are in grave jeopardy of losing the
Lord and Savior.
Then, we have our own personal sins that each and every one of us commits throughout our lives
that we must make reparation for, and if we abide in truth, then we come to learn that truth which
is most important, that is, as our Lord points out, he was sent by the Father in order to reclaim
the family of mankind, and so he would come to offer his life for our sake, and so we too must
strive to offer our lives.
For his sake, for he leads us in all things, he shows us all that we are to do, and he shows us how
we are to do it most well. And so, let us always strive to remember that in our baptism we truly
have become the adopted sons of God the Father, and so we must strive to reverence and honor and
do all that the Son has taught us, for our Lord makes that very clear in today's gospel, that if
we abide in truth, then we will survive.
Let us always strive to do what the Son has shown us and what the Son has taught, and so, as one of
the great penances during the season of Lent, we can do well to always study our faith deeper and
deeper, and to form that good habit by which we always spend some time with a catechism or some
other edifying book that helps us to grow in the truths of our faith, because it helps us to
understand them more deeply and more profoundly, so that we may always
be growing deeper and deeper in that love of God the Father for our sake, that love that was so
profound that he would not spare even his only Son, but he would send him in order that he may
sacrifice his sacred humanity for the sake of mankind, so that mankind may truly have that
opportunity to be reconciled with God his Father, and then ultimately, after a life of trial and
tribulation, after a life of prayer and reparation, here on earth, we may be able to live a life of
prayer and reparation, here on earth, we may enter into that kingdom for which all of us were truly
created to endure for all eternity, that is, the kingdom of God, which is heaven.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.