Word to the Wise
Friday, January 11, 2019 - Friday after Epiphany, or Jan. 11
[1 John 5:5-13 and Luke 5:12-16]FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 2019. CHRISTMAS WEEKDAY [Friday after the Epiphany] [1 John 5:5-13 and Luke 5:12-16] I am writing these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God. [1 John] These words near the end of the First Letter of John echo a major theme of the Gospel According to John: eternal life begins with faith in Jesus as the one whom God has sent. It does not begin with physical death and the grave. Death and sin are the result of disbelief. This may be difficult to grasp since the popular notion of heaven is eternal bliss, free from pain and suffering. How can we have eternal life in this limited life? The answer is that if we do believe in Jesus as the one whom God has sent, we must accept his word that our faith gives us eternal life now and later. Our faith makes us children of God, as the Prologue to the Gospel According to John tells us. Indeed, it is confidence in this eternal life that can enable us to face the many challenges that our human life presents. The season of Epiphany, which ends this Sunday with The Baptism of the Lord, reminds us of the revelation of the Son of God in human flesh and invites us to renew our understanding of the eternal life that we already possess. AMEN