“veritas liberabit vos”

As I slipped on my University class ring I was immediately drawn to the inscription which read, “veritas liberabit vos”. I had spent a lot of time and money on my education and I was not going to wear a ring which had a motto that I did not understand, so I looked up the Latin words which translated, “The Truth Shall Set You Free.”

Of course there was no Google in those days and my translation made no reference to the Biblical text from John’s Gospel. It made sense to me that this ring—a symbol of academic accomplishment—referred to the knowledge I had received during my years of study, not the truth of the Gospel.

“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 set you free." The Jews did not understand that the bonds that chained them were the bonds of sin.  And they did not understand that Jesus' word was the key to releasing them from their bondage.

We understand this only a little more than the disciples understood, but our bondage to sin is just as real as theirs. What holds us back? What poisons our relationship with God?  The world offers many distractions which draw us away from the mind and will of God and leave us lost in the wasteland of wealth and possessions. To find our way out we must exercise our spiritual muscle by becoming the disciples Jesus calls us to be.  We need responses to the call of our world and its culture. We need responses which can only be found in the pages of the Bible where Jesus’ word lives and instructs us.

Peace,
Father Mark+