TRUTH LIBERATES

TRUTH LIBERATES
Homily for Wednesday of the 5th Week of Lent,
29 March 2023, Jn 8:31-42

This morning I was a guest at Radyo Veritas with Angelique Lazo and Fr. Douglas Badong as hosts. They asked me to share a little reflection on today’s Gospel and I started by telling them that the opening verse of today’s Gospel is the biblical inspiration for the vision and mission of Radio Veritas, the Catholic Church’s radio station of the Archdiocese of Manila from the time that it was established 62 years ago now: “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.”
Unfortunately, people usually remember only the last line of this famous verse: “Katotohanan ang magpapalaya sa inyo.” (The Truth will set you free.) This verse is actually made up of four lines: 1) If you remain in my word, 2) you will truly be my disciples, 3) you will know the truth, and 4) and the truth will set you free. You cannot get to the 4th without passing through the three lines before it.
We start with the 2nd line: what does it take “TO BECOME A TRUE DISCIPLE OF CHRIST”? (tunay na alagad ni Kristo)? The qualifying word is TUNAY, as opposed to HUWAD (meaning, fake discipleship). Even with jewels and precious metals and stones, there are fakes. And one who is unable to distinguish between the genuine and the fake is bound to be fooled. Apparently, it works the same way with Christian discipleship—if the saying is true that “madali ang maging tao ngunit mahirap magpakatao,” I think it is just as true to say, “Madali ang maging Kristiyano ngunit mahirap ang magpaka-Kristiyano.” Some people think a baptismal certificate is enough. People often forget that infant baptism is called a “sacrament of initiation”, which will practically have no effect on the child if the parents and the godparents who answered for the child, do not do their part in raising their child in the Christian faith.
So the answer to the question “what does it take