Word to the Wise
Saturday, January 12, 2019 - Saturday after Epiphany, or Jan. 12
[1 John 5:14-21 and John 3:22-30]We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us discernment to know the one who is true. And we are in the one who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. [1 John]
Today is the last day of the Christmas/Epiphany season if one considers the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord to be the introduction of "ordinary time." The words from the First Letter of John represent the teaching and faith of the Christian community more than half a century after Jesus' life, death and resurrection. They are a distillation of much that is given in the Gospel According to John. The points are simple and clear: Jesus is the one whom God has sent. Jesus has given us the Spirit to discern the truth about him. Our faith in Jesus means that we have entered into eternal life. But we do not do this alone. We must love our neighbor.
The liturgical year pivots around the two major events of the Incarnation (Christmas/Epiphany) and Death/Resurrection (Easter) but the everyday life of Christians models itself on the ministry and teaching of Jesus, which we celebrate in "Ordinary Time." A few lines before today's passage from the First Letter of John, we are told that our love of neighbor is a major sign of our faith in Christ. We cannot have one without the other. Daily participation in the ministry and teaching of Jesus, whether celebrated sacramentally in the Eucharist or the other sacraments, or simply by reading the Word of God, meditating on it and putting it into practice, is the goal of Christian life. AMEN