By Colleen O’Sullivan
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.
(John 8:31-36)
Piety
For it’s only in Your will that I am free,
For it’s only in Your will that I am free,
Jesus, all for Jesus,
All I am and have and ever hope to be.
Study
Our Christian faith is often paradoxical. A lowly carpenter’s boy from Nazareth turns
out to be the Son of God. Jesus tells us
that in God’s Kingdom, the last will be first and the first will be last. On another occasion he says that if we try to
save our lives, we will lose them, but if we lose our lives for his sake, we
will find them. Jesus also tells his
disciples, “Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.” (Mk
10:43) In the end, the message of the
Cross looks like foolishness to the world, but to those who are being saved, it
is the power of God. (I Cor.1:18)
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is talking about
slavery and freedom. The paradox here is
that true freedom involves not doing whatever we please but surrendering
ourselves to Christ, giving up the things of this world that we idolize, and living
steeped in God’s word. The Lord’s
audience protests that they’ve never been slaves. (I guess they’ve forgotten about their years
in Egypt and Babylon.) Jesus responds that anyone who commits sin is a slave.
If Jesus
were having this conversation with us today, I think it would take a different
turn. We would be fixated on the concept
of freedom. In our culture, freedom of
the individual is one of the most highly prized values. I can imagine the scornful looks and curled
lips at the notion that freedom might mean giving up or surrendering
anything. Freedom 21st
century, American-style means I have the right to express myself any way I want
to. It means I can say anything I
choose. I can do whatever makes me feel
good at the moment. Somehow, I don’t
think this is what the founders of our country had in mind, and I am sure our
views on freedom simply prove Jesus’ point about our being enslaved to sin and the
ways of the world.
Action
In his latest newsletter, Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI, in a meditation on Jesus before Pilate, writes that
“…through submission to the God of heaven (Jesus) escaped the power of the gods
of earth.” That’s what real freedom
is. To be free in Christ, what idols do
you still need to give up?
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