Word to the Wise
Friday, November 14, 2014 - Friday in the 32th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 John 4-9 and Luke 17:26-37]I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth just as we were commanded by the Father. But now, Lady I ask you, not as though I were writing a new commandment but the one we have had from the beginning: let us love one another. For this is love that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning, in which you should walk. [2 John]
The very brief (one chapter) Second Letter of John makes its rare appearance in the lectionary today. The theme is a familiar one that echoes the Gospel of John, especially in the "farewell" section of the Last Supper. There Jesus says, "If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love." [John 15:10]
In the Gospel of John, the central idea is to believe in Jesus. This act of faith leads to the encounter with God's love. Things do not stop there, however, because the love we experience in that encounter must be shared. The First Letter of John says it very succinctly: "If anyone says, 'I love God,' but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whomhe has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen."
If we make this the starting point of many debates over how our nation should behave inside and outside, I believe those debates would take on a very different tone and reach a very different result. AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
70 ms
4
