Saturday, March 25, 2017

Lent XXII

Then Jesus said to those Jews, who believed him: If you continue in my word, you shall be my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:31-32)

He says that three things make a person right. First is the rectitude of affection, and this is noted in being a disciple of Christ. Second is the rectitude of intellect, and this appears in knowledge of the truth. The third is the rectitude of effect through freedom from sin, and this is noted in the freedom of truth. Another interpretation is: You will be disciples on the way through imitation. You will know the truth in the beatification of the soul. And you will be freed by the truth from all corruption in the happy union of soul and body.

[St. Bonaventure, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Karris, tr. Franciscan Institute Publications (Saint Bonaventure, NY: 2007) 480-481.]