Gospel: John 8:31-42
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. I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are
trying to kill me, because my word has 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."
They answered and said to him, "Our father is Abraham." Jesus
said to them, "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!" So they said to him, "We were not born of
fornication. We have one Father, God." Jesus said to them, "If God
were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and am here; I did not
come on my own, but he sent me."
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Reflection:
How can we become true followers of Jesus?
It is only through our adherence to Jesus teachings that we will become
His true followers there is no other way. How about those who regularly give
large sum of money to the church but they disobey Jesus’ teachings? Are they
not true follower? They are not! No matter how big the amount that they
regularly give to the church.
It’s not impossible to become faithful to Jesus for everyone of us can
aspire to become one. But we often times choose not to be faithful because we
allow ourselves to be seduced by the devil. The devil who is disguised in many
worldly forms whose only mission is to take us farther from Jesus.
Remember Judas Iscariot? He allowed himself to be seduced by the devil
for he betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15). What
was the effect of that betrayal on Judas? Endless mental torture and guilt of
conscience that eventually led him to end his life (Matthew 27:3-5). – Marino
J. Dasmarinas
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