“The Truth Will Make you Free” (John 8:32):

During the mystical supper Jesus declares that he is " the way, and the truth, and the life. " (Jn. 14:6) Therefore the life we share with and in Christ draws us to truth and freedom. Truth and freedom are the consequences of a living and ever growing relationship with Christ. There can be no truth i.e. life in Christ without freedom and there can no freedom without being caught in the embrace of divine-human love which is Christ's. Our drawing near to Christ is an act of freedom. We choose to draw near not because of fear of hell or the desire to gain heaven.(Cf. S. Gregory of Nyssa, The Life of Moses) Freely we draw near as a response to God's overture of love manifested in his sending us his only begotten Son. " We love, because he first loved us. " (1 Jn. 4:19) From before the ages we were predestined to share in the divine life. God " destined us in his love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. " (Eph. 1:5) Before the creation God desired that all men and women should be his sons i.e. to share in the same intimate and filial relationship which he and his only begotten Son possess from all eternity. Though we are predestined to be one with God we nevertheless are endowed with the freedom to counter God's will. God, out of love for the one created in his image and likeness, permits this rebellion so as not to impose his will. " For, that which is done by force is not an act of virtue. " (S. John of Damascus, De Fide Orthodoxa, II,12) Ultimately, this rebellion rooted in freedom imprisons the mind, heart and will within the realm of sin and death. Misused freedom is morphed into slavery which can only be overcome by divine intervention. Christ's call to repent summons us to freedom – freedom from sin and death which includes the liberation of closed minds and hardened hearts. The ascetical ordeal sustained and nurtured by the Holy Spirit opens the mind to the inexhaustible mysteries of God and creation. Through ascetical purification the liberated mind joyfully realizes its limitations as it concedes to the superiority of knowing beyond reason while the softened heart seeks and yearns to embrace the other as friend and equal. II. Freedom …