Jesus said to the Pharisees:
“I am going away and you will look for me,
but you will die in your sin.
Where I am going you cannot come.”
So the Jews said,
“He is not going to kill himself, is he,
because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?”
He said to them, “You belong to what is below,
I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world,
but I do not belong to this world.
That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.
For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins.”
So they said to him, “Who are you?”
Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning.
I have much to say about you in condemnation.
But the one who sent me is true,
and what I heard from him I tell the world.”
They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.
So Jesus said to them,
“When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM,
and that I do nothing on my own,
but I say only what the Father taught me.
The one who sent me is with me.
He has not left me alone,
because I always do what is pleasing to him.”
Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.
Lectio (Reading)
Read the passage twice and get a sense of what it is saying. Pay attention to what strikes you.Meditatio (Reflecting)
Slowly read the passage again, pausing on words or phrases that stands out. Take time to consider the meaning. particularly in your life.That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.
Oratio (Responding)
Read the passage again, slowly. Consider how God has spoken to you and respond back to Him. You may want to consider how this passage is asking you to act differently.The words “I AM” are not to be skipped over lightly. Any pious jew would have known that this is exactly what God told Moses His name was. For anyone to claim this same name would be considered a blasphemer, unless of course they really were God. This response to the jews was alone more than enough reason for them to want to kill Jesus. But Jesus is actually God, and His message is for all of us, and we need to look past our human reaction to it, and hear the actual warning and message of it.
If you do not believe in Jesus as Lord, and as the way and the truth and the life, then you will die in your sins. What does it mean to die in sin? Well it depends on the sin. The church teaches that if you die in a state of mortal sin, a state of complete separation from God, then you will spend eternity in hell, eternally separated from God. But if you die in a state of friendship with God you will find your way to heaven. If you still have a venial attachment to sin, then you will spend time in purgatory, until that attachment to sin is completely burned away, and then you will enter into eternity with God.
But you should not be lazy about this, you want to avoid purgatory if you can. Saints have been given visions of purgatory, and they say that it is a place of agony, but the only difference between purgatory and hell is that there is hope in purgatory of someday being reconciled with God. So stay close to the sacraments, and try to participate in the indulgences that the church offers. These indulgences, if you are properly disposed to recieve them, can free you of the temporal punishment due to sin. And if you die in this state you will go straight into the bosom of the Lord and into an eternity of heaven forever. What could be better than that?
Alas, complete detachment from sin is almost impossible for most mortal men, so we must do the best we can, and stay as close as we can to Him in the sacraments, and then trust in God’s love and mercy, because God’s love is bigger than anything we can imagine, and there is no accounting for God’s mercy. For that truth I thank God, and I take comfort in His love and I desire His forgiveness. We are totally lost without it, and we should never stop thanking Him for it. Amen.
Contemplatio (Contemplating)
Take time to simply remain in the presence of God.Resolutio (Resolving)
Make a resolution that will improve your life, your relationships, or your faith. Make it small and attainable, and do it.Oh lord, I am not worthy of your love and mercy, but I know that you give it willingly and freely, and for that I am eternally grateful. You are good and loving father, and I desire more than anything to be with you in eternity.