The TRUTH Will Set You Free

Wednesday, March 29, 2023 Gospel Reflection

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.”

What is sin? The Catechism teaches us that “Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as ‘an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law.’” (CCC, 1849)

Jesus words in today’s Gospel Reading are poignant and should make us pause. “If one commits sin, he is a slave to sin.” On our own, we are slaves to our disorders. “Sin creates a proclivity to sin; it engenders vice by repetition of the same acts. This results in perverse inclinations which cloud conscience and corrupt the concrete judgment of good and evil. Thus sin tends to reproduce itself and reinforce itself, but it cannot destroy the moral sense at its root.” (CCC, 1865) However, through Jesus Christ, we can be set free from these disordered passions. His life, death, and resurrection made it possible to pursue holiness and “be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5:48)

This is what Jesus was preaching to the Jews in the temple. As the Son of God, as coming from the I AM and as the I AM, as “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” (Jn 14:6) – he will set the captives free. “And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.”

“Conversion requires convincing of sin; it includes the interior judgment of conscience, and this, being a proof of the action of the Spirit of truth in man's inmost being, becomes at the same time the start of a new grant of grace and love: "Receive the Holy Spirit." Thus in this "convincing concerning sin" we discover a double gift: the gift of the truth of conscience and the gift of the certainty of redemption. The Spirit of truth is the Consoler.” (CCC 1848)

Have you truly entered into this conversion with Christ? Have you allowed him to penetrate the depths of your humanity? Do you desire to be set free from the hidden disorders that plague mankind? It is only through the death of ourselves, united with Christ on the Cross, that we can receive the grace of conversion and truly be free, unfettered to all things that hold us back from the beautiful union with the God who loves us. If you have been away from the Church, perhaps it is time to come back. As Jesus entered into Jerusalem, knowing full well of his death, perhaps we too can enter into our Jerusalem, knowing full well of our “via dolorosa” – our way of suffering. Yet, also going into “the way of suffering” knowing of our own resurrection and that a new life with Christ awaits.

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