The Gospel reading today assures all of us that Jesus is really from Almighty God, that God wants all people free and the way to freedom is Jesus.This new teaching didn’t set well with the elite in the Temple in Jerusalem and their followers. They argued with Jesus and devalued what he taught, perhaps because it destroyed every hypocrisy rooted their lives. We know how this tension ended on Good Friday.
How can we follow Christ to become truly free as children of God?
Henri Nouwen once said that, ‘When we are able to throw off the compulsions and coercions that come from outside of us can we allow the Holy Spirit, God’s love, to be our only guide, then we can live a truly free, interior and spiritual life.”So, whether as a responsible student, devoted spouse, sanitary worker, parent, factory worker, scholar, health care provider, teacher, priest, pope, beggar or comfortable retiree savoring a life blessed by God, we follow Christ’s example of being loyal and totally dependent on God in every moment in every day.
We let the past recede, giving up nostalgia and regrets, and ignore the imagined pitfalls and risks of the future, mindful only of God’s providence in the present moment. In this we are secure. In this we rest. In this we are free. At every one of life’s intersections, when we are to be decisive about which direction to take, we know the Spirit will guide us.
Taking time to reflect and pray on this truth can transform us from being slaves to the winds and distractions of what is unimportant in life to live totally centered in God. This alone, Jesus says, is true, lasting freedom.
Anyone up for that?
Osho