Coffee With God

Reflection: John 8: 31-42

Faith is not genuine until it touches our attitudes and, above all, our concrete choices. To “remain” in the Word of Christ means to conform our lives to his life and his virtues. Christ seems to imply that there are true and false disciples. There is only one way to tell the difference between the two: whether one embraces his Word as an ideal and as a rule of life. The false security that the Jews claim on being descended from Abraham could find its parallel in us Christians who are content with our baptism and our religious practices. We come across many traditional Catholics who take pride in claiming their Catholic faith and say, ‘we have been Catholics for many generations, and we grew up in strong Catholic traditions.’ Furthermore, ironically, we fight for defending our traditions while leaving the Word of God stranded on the streets! Perhaps in our earnest efforts to remain faithful to the centuries-old traditions, we have missed the point – We forgot to remain with the Word. We have become Christians not because of any of our merits. We go to Church every day or every week, not because we are any better than others. We are also chained by sin, but we believe in the Lord who forgives and sets us free. Every Christian is on a mission to forgive and love. Christians should take pride not in their centuries-old customs and traditions but instead in the forgiveness and Mercy of God. We should be able to repeat to ourselves: “I have been forgiven, I will forgive and will be an instrument of reconciliation.” A person who suffered woundedness can understand with empathy the wounds of those around him. A person who acknowledges and owns up to the failures can better accompany people with all their weaknesses without being judgemental. My weaknesses and failures help me put aside my ego and give Jesus the centre stage, who can set us free. Pope Francis tells us that the knowledge that we are wounded sets us free. Yes, it sets us free from becoming self-referential and thinking of ourselves as superior to others. The people with whom we interact and live do not expect us to be superheroes. They expect us to be companions, with all the weaknesses and limitations. Wounded soldiers become bolder; wounded Christians become more loving. We say “yes” to the Lord at the start of the day and every moment of our lives… “Here I am, Lord, sinful yet loving, wounded yet willing to serve.”