Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word.
I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.” They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did, but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are indeed doing what your father does.” They said to him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself.”
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
How we treat one another
“If you knew my Father, you wouldn’t treat me this way.” I imagine these words roll off the tongues of those who continue to suffer racism. The damaging vestiges of slavery and white supremacy have been chipping away at each of our moral compasses for some time. Sadly, our current crises have provoked responses from Christians that mimicked a losing sports team during a timeout—pointing fingers and denying culpability instead of working together to address weaknesses. Racism’s court of public opinion causes many Christians to drop the balls of compassion, morality, truth-telling and dignity when confronted with discomfort. Foul! Talking about racism from the pulpit is not political. Jesus is calling a timeout for all to regroup and to reflect. “If you knew my Father, you wouldn’t treat others this way.”
What’s keeping you from finding Christ in all human beings?
—Lori Stanley is the Executive Director of Loyola Institute for Spirituality in Orange, CA.
Healing God and lover of all creation, strengthen our desire to expand our hearts to see Christ in others so that when one suffers, we all suffer and when one is honored, we all celebrate.
—Lori Stanley
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