Slaves to Saints
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Read this Gospel passage aloud to the family
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.”
(Parent) Reread this part a few times aloud
“Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.”
(Parent) Read this meditation aloud to the family
Everyone today, whether holy or sinful, wants freedom. But many misunderstand freedom. Many think that freedom is the ability to do whatever you want: have impure relationships, do whatever feels good, drink too much, marry and divorce, ignore the faith, ignore morality. But when the moment comes that they want to stop these things, they often find that they are unable to stop. (This is the case with an addict, for instance.) All along, they thought they were free to do whatever felt good, when they were actually enslaved by their own sin. It is hard to get free.
Sin makes us slaves. When we do bad things we don’t just carry these actions around with us as a history of what we’ve done. What we do actually forms our soul. We carry these things in our soul. When we sin on one occasion, our soul is twisted. On the following occasions we will find it easier to sin, and harder to do the right thing. Sin enslaves us. Even the littlest sins aren’t to be toyed with—they will move us toward big sins. Christ alone has the power to free us from the cruel slavery of sin. To be truly free we need Him. In prayer, consider what sins are present in our lives. Then ask Christ to help us to become truly free.
As a family, pray a portion of the Rosary together (very short if children are young) reflecting on the Scripture passage above.(Optional: allow a brief time for discussion or questions from children concerning their thoughts and prayer.)
Reminder for Parents: Pier is just meant to be a jumping off point. The real goal is that you pray & eventually use the fruits of your personal prayer as the content of your family’s prayer. Duc in altum.
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