April 5, 2017
Wednesday, 5th Week of Lent
1st Reading: Dn 3:14–20, 91–92, 95
Gospel: Jn 8:31–42
Jesus went on to say to the Jews who believed in him: “You will be my true disciples if you keep my word. Then you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.” They answered him, “We are the descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves of anyone. What do you mean by saying: You will be free?”
Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave. But the slave doesn’t stay in the house forever; the son stays forever. So, if the Son makes you free, you will be really free.
“I know that you are the descendants of Abraham; yet you want to kill me because my word finds no place in you. For my part I speak of what I have seen in the Father’s presence, but you do what you have learned from your father.”
They answered him, “Our father is Abraham.” Then Jesus said, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do as Abraham did. But now you want to kill me, the one who tells you the truth—the truth that I have learned from God. That is not what Abraham did; what you are doing are the works of your father.”
“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in
the Assimilated
Life Experience)
A housemaid won the love of her masters for being loyal and hardworking. In due time she was considered part of the family and was allowed to do away with the servant’s uniform. One day the family had a visitor from Manila. Although the housemaid was no longer in her uniform the guest recognized her as the housemaid who attended to his needs in his previous visits. He said to her, “Di ba ikaw yong muchacha?” She replied in her dialect: “Di raba ko tig-ballroom, Sir!”
Some masters maintain the same servants for a long time. They even consider some as part of their family. Loyal servants usually earn the freedom of the children of the household. This is not the case of many servants in modern households. Many in fact leave too soon, either because they are disloyal, or because their masters are stonehearted. In both cases the master-servant relationship is short-lived.
Scriptures liken us to servants in God’s house. We stay long not because of any merit of our own but because of God’s love. How unfortunate that even while enjoying the privilege of staying in God’s house we remain slaves because of sin. Jesus said: “Truly, I say to you whoever commits sin is a slave.” Slaves like these do not stay long in the Master’s house. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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