Monday
after the Epiphany
January 6, 2014 8:30am
In this week after the Epiphany,
we continue to celebrate Christmas.
We see this in our first reading
where Saint John is reflecting on our belief in Jesus as God’s Son.
St. John says: “This is God’s commandment: we should
believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he
commanded us.”
It strikes me that the first part
of this commandment is crucial: “that we
believe in the name of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.”
Later in this passage St. John
says:
“Every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs
to God.”
So, recognizing that God has come
to us, that the Word of God became flesh in Jesus is crucial.
It is foundational.
When we recognize or believe in
that, we are really believing that “God
is Love.”
Why?
Because God is so giving of
himself that His Son takes on our humanity or, as we would day, is made
incarnate.
This is an act of pure and
complete self-giving or love.
It is because of this that the
second part of Saint John’s statement follows from the first.
Again, John says: “This is God’s commandment: we should
believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he
commanded us.”
So, a morality, an ethics, a
spirituality based on love flows from our accepting God’s Son being incarnate
in Jesus.
Maybe we could put it this way.
If we accept Jesus as the Word of
God made flesh, then in our oneness with him we are also one with God who is
pure love.
In our being one with God, we are
to see all persons as God’s sons and daughters and as our brothers and sisters.
In this way John’s words today
are so true: love of one another flows from our belief in Jesus, the Word of
God made flesh.
