A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John (Jn 8:51-59)
Jesus said to the Jews: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” So, the Jews said to him, “Now we are sure that you are possessed. Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? Or the prophets, who died? Who do you make yourself out to be?”
Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me,
of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ You do not know him, but I know him. And if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you a liar. But I do know him and I keep his word. Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.”
So, the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.” So, they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.
The Gospel of the Lord
Reflection
We know that Jesus has said that “Who is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” Moreover, we know that Jesus is the Truth, the Life and the Way. Likewise, we know that the Devil possesses the opposite qualities: Deceitfulness, darkness, and Death. Where Jesus seeks unity and inclusion, the Devil saws discord and exclusion. Where Jesus is willing to risk even life for the sake of truth, the devil looks only after his own interest. The question has been and still is do we chose Jesus’ light or the Devil’s darkness?
I am sure that you all have experienced pain in your sight when, after spending a long time in the dark, a ray of light shines on your eyes. We immediately shut our eyes (in an effort to retreat to the darkness) and, if possible, turn off or throw away the source of the light. Truth also has that effect on our mind and soul. Truth may not kill us, but it certainly hurts. In the same way, as a result of the pain that truth causes us, we want to immediately retreat to the old way of thinking and we strike back at the source of truth.
In today’s gospel we see Jesus being true to who he is: The Truth, The Life, and the Way. He does not back down from telling the truth. He clearly says “if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you, a liar.” And He also offers eternal life to anyone who walks in his way when he says to the crowds “…whoever keeps my word will never see death.”
Unfortunately, many in the crowds could not stand the pain in their mind and heart brought by Jesus’ words. Rather than opening their eyes to the light, they rejected it; they rejected the Life, the Truth and the Way. However, these people who heard Jesus words may have an excuse; They did not have two thousand years of knowledge about our faith, as we do. Through the last two thousand years countless men and women have given up their lives either as martyrs or as soldiers defending the faith. There is hardly a place on earth that does not know that Jesus came, lived among us, taught, died, resurrected and went back to heaven.
And yet, many among us still do not fully accept Jesus for who He truly is. Many of us still doubt that the bread and wine that we placed on the altar get transformed in essence in His blood and body. Many of us still doubt that at the end of times our faith assures us that we will raise from the dead. Many of us still do not fully believe in miracles (past or present). Many of us still insist in divisions among peoples, groups, classes and nations. Many of us, though our ears yearn for the truth, we allow deceit and lies to guide our actions and thoughts. In other words, we are ruled by the ways of the devil.
The truth does hurt. It takes strength and courage to defend truth, life and the way back to God. Jesus may not have lost His life in this passage, but we know that He did at the end. He died telling the truth. And like him so many others through the centuries. So, if we truly are Christians, then we should be ready to walk away from the ways of the evil one and be open to sacrifice our safety for the sake of truth, perhaps even at the point of death.
If we are truly Christians, we must keep Jesus’ words in the way that we live our lives, and perhaps, at the end of times, we will not experience eternal death!
Action of the Day.
Reflect on whether your thoughts and actions scatter or gather? Whether they bring you closer to God or to the Devil? Ask yourself, are they guided by politics, convenience, apathy, frustration, self-preservation, culture, division or similar reasons rooted in darkness that serve the Devil? Or are they guided by the desire to serve others; to bring all together regardless of place of origin, social or economic standing; to live out God’s ways and not human ways; to ignore our passions and impulses of the moment to see others as our brothers and sisters? Are they guided by everything that serves God?
Audio Reflection:
