20251027 FREEDOM OF SONSHIP IN CHRIST
27 October 2025, Monday, 30th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Romans 8:12-17 |
The Spirit himself and our spirit bear united witness that we are children of God
My brothers, there is no necessity for us to obey our unspiritual selves or to live unspiritual lives. If you do live in that way, you are doomed to die; but if by the Spirit you put an end to the misdeeds of the body you will live.
Everyone moved by the Spirit is a son of God. The spirit you received is not the spirit of slaves bringing fear into your lives again; it is the spirit of sons, and it makes us cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit himself and our spirit bear united witness that we are children of God. And if we are children we are heirs as well: heirs of God and coheirs with Christ, sharing his sufferings so as to share his glory.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 67(68):2,4,6-7,20-21 |
This God of ours is a God who saves.
Let God arise, let his foes be scattered.
Let those who hate him flee before him.
But the just shall rejoice at the presence of God,
they shall exult and dance for joy.
This God of ours is a God who saves.
Father of the orphan, defender of the widow,
such is God in his holy place.
God gives the lonely a home to live in;
he leads the prisoners forth into freedom.
This God of ours is a God who saves.
May the Lord be blessed day after day.
He bears our burdens, God our saviour.
This God of ours is a God who saves.
The Lord our God holds the keys of death.
This God of ours is a God who saves.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn17:17 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 13:10-17 |
Was it not right to untie this woman's bonds on the sabbath day?
One sabbath day Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who for eighteen years had been possessed by a spirit that left her enfeebled; she was bent double and quite unable to stand upright. When Jesus saw her he called her over and said, ‘Woman, you are rid of your infirmity’ and he laid his hands on her. And at once she straightened up, and she glorified God.
But the synagogue official was indignant because Jesus had healed on the sabbath, and he addressed the people present. ‘There are six days’ he said ‘when work is to be done. Come and be healed on one of those days and not on the sabbath.’ But the Lord answered him. ‘Hypocrites!’ he said ‘Is there one of you who does not untie his ox or his donkey from the manger on the sabbath and take it out for watering? And this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has held bound these eighteen years – was it not right to untie her bonds on the sabbath day?’ When he said this, all his adversaries were covered with confusion, and all the people were overjoyed at all the wonders he worked.
FREEDOM OF SONSHIP IN CHRIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Rm 8:12-17; Ps 68:2,4,6-7,20-21; Lk 13:10-17]
Typical of St. Luke, being a physician, he was observant and meticulous in noting the illnesses of those who suffered in any way. In today’s Gospel, we read of “a woman who for eighteen years had been possessed by a spirit that left her enfeebled; she was bent double and quite unable to stand upright.” We can imagine the immense suffering she endured all those years. We are struck by the spontaneous response of Jesus to her plight. Without hesitation, perhaps even in the midst of His preaching, He stopped, called her over, and said, “Woman, you are rid of your infirmity,” laying His hands on her. At once, she straightened up and glorified God. Such was the freedom of the Spirit of Jesus–He was not bound by structures or by what people might say or think. Moved by compassion, He reached out to help.
Through this, Jesus reveals God’s desire to set us free from all bondage–whether of the Evil One or of sickness. He shows us mercy and compassion. When it comes to works of charity, there should be no delay. There is no reason to prolong another’s suffering when we can act immediately. As the psalmist says, “Father of the orphan, defender of the widow, such is God in His holy place. God gives the lonely a home to live in; He leads the prisoners forth into freedom.” Again, in the first reading, we are reminded that we are sons and daughters of God. We are not merely like this woman, a daughter of Abraham; we are children of God, members of His family. “Everyone moved by the Spirit is a son of God.”
So why are we slaves in so many ways? We do not behave like children of God who have been set free to love. In the Gospel, the synagogue president was not free–he was afraid to break the law. Thus, he was indignant when Jesus healed the woman, yet also afraid to reprimand Him because His actions were good and appreciated by the people. So, instead of directing his anger at Jesus, he told the people, “There are six days when work is to be done. Come and be healed on one of those days, not on the Sabbath.” Healing was a profession and therefore considered as work, but Jesus exposed the hypocrisy by citing a law permitting a man to release his animals to drink water on the Sabbath. If the law allows the owner to care for animals, how much more should it extend to human beings? Surely humans are more important than animals.
Many of us, too, are bound by laws and systems. We sometimes give more value to the system than to the people it is meant to serve. We are often afraid to go beyond the laws. In many organisations, upholding rules and regulations becomes more important than caring for the people they are meant to serve. When this happens, compassion and mercy take a back seat to legalism, and the true purpose of the law – to promote justice and love – is lost. It is sad that even in the Church, laws sometimes hinder people from encountering God or prevent acts of mercy from taking place. Many are so rigid in following the rules that they forget the Lord’s teaching: the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Out of fear of reprimand, they follow regulations blindly instead of exercising compassion and discernment. Blind obedience to laws at the expense of charity and justice becomes a greater sin; what we truly need is prudence–the wisdom to know when to uphold the law and when to set it aside for the greater good.
Of course, there are also those who live under the bondage of sin, which is the opposite of legalism. Instead of obeying the law, such people obey their passions. They are ruled by their desires rather than by reason and moral law, giving way to licentiousness. In the name of freedom, they commit all kinds of evil. Many are unable to overcome their addictions and sinful behaviours. For such people, St Paul warns, “My brothers, there is no necessity for us to obey our unspiritual selves or to live unspiritual lives. If you do live in that way, you are doomed to die; but if by the Spirit you put an end to the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” By allowing the flesh to control their will, they ultimately bring harm upon themselves.
How then can we overcome fear, the root of many bondages? We must recover our sonship and daughtership in Christ. St. Paul says, “The Spirit you received is not the spirit of slaves bringing fear into your lives again; it is the Spirit of sons, and it makes us cry out, ‘Abba, Father!'” We are children of God, we must be conscious of our dignity and call to live responsibly, reflecting God’s image. True freedom as God’s children is exercised without harming others or ourselves, and it allows others to see God in us. Children honour and seek to please their parents through right action; likewise, we honour our heavenly Father.
Consequently, it is important that, to have this Spirit, we must be like Jesus, who experienced true sonship through His deep intimacy with the Father. Jesus knows His Father and loves Him completely. To acquire the spirit of sonship means to have the same kind of relationship with the Father. As St Paul says, “The Spirit himself and our spirit bear united witness that we are children of God. And if we are children, we are heirs as well–heirs of God and coheirs with Christ, sharing his sufferings so as to share his glory.” We have been given this same privilege of access to the Father. Only through a conscious realisation of the Father’s love for us can we overcome fear–the fear that leads to slavery, whether to the law or to ourselves. Those who do not know God live in bondage to their unspiritual selves or to the Devil.
At the end of the day, it is not simply a matter of obeying the laws, nor of living without them. We must avoid both extremes: a blind and uncompromising obedience to the letter of the law, often at the expense of charity and justice in particular situations, or the assumption that we can do without laws, treating them merely as general guidelines for harmonious living. Of course, we must always go beyond mere observance of the law and embrace charity, which covers a multitude of sins.
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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