Christmas Weekday
1 John 5:5-13  +  Mark 1:7-11
January 6, 2018

So there are three that testify, the Spirit, the water, and the Blood, and the three are of one accord.

In today’s First Reading, St. John speaks of “testimony” that is given to the divine Person of Jesus.  He says that “there are three who testify, the Spirit, the water, and the Blood.”  The odd thing about this statement is the Beloved Disciple’s use of the word “who”:  he states that there are “three who testify”.  This is understandable in regard to “the Spirit”, who is the Third Person of the Trinity.  But why does St. John use the word “who” in regard to “the water, and the Blood”?

Perhaps these “three who testify” can be spoken of in terms of “who” because these three flow from Holy Mother Church:  in this case, “the Spirit, the water, and the Blood” might easily be understood in terms of the Church’s Sacraments of Initiation.

Perhaps instead these three refer to Christ in terms of His Crucifixion.  All three of these flow from the Person of Jesus on the Cross:  after Christ gave up His Spirit, water and Blood flowed from His side.  This suggests also the image of the Divine Mercy, with three rays of light—red, white and blue—flowing from Him.

No matter how we reflect on these three who give testimony, the one to whom they testify is clear:  the Word made Flesh within the womb of Mary, who offers His Body and Blood so that we might have life, and have it to the full.

St. John Neumann, Bishop
1 John 3:11-21  +  John 1:43-51
January 5, 2018

Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Everyone knows that Christmastide is about the beginning of Jesus’ human life.  But this holy season is about other beginnings, as well.  In today’s Gospel passage, from the first chapter of John’s Gospel account, John narrates “preliminaries” in the unfolding of Jesus’ public ministry.

Jesus calls first.  Calling is the beginning of His ministry.  This truth reminds us of God’s respect for human free will.  The Christian Faith does not profess a belief in absolute predestination.  That is to say, it would make no sense for God to call someone to follow Him if that someone had no freedom to reject or accept God’s call.  Human free will, then, is the first point we notice in today’s Gospel scene.

Secondly, today’s Gospel passage presents a double calling.  Jesus calls Philip, and Philip calls Nathaniel.  This double calling sets before us the truth that Jesus’ call is at times mediated through others.  This truth is foundational not only to salvation history as a whole, but also to the life of each Christian disciple.  We must teach those in our care to reject the shallow “me and Jesus” approach to Christianity that refuses to admit that God’s grace is mediated to us through others.  In turn, we ourselves must listen to others not only as fellows, but as potential bearers of God’s Word for us.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious
1 John 3:7-10  +  John 1:35-42
January 4, 2018

Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the Devil.

One of the words in today’s First Reading—“revealed”—can help us focus on serving others to foster love.  We continue to hear from the First Epistle of St. John.  The Beloved Disciple is very blunt in his epistles.  He has just as sharp a sense of evil as he does of divine love.  Surely John’s perception of both was whetted on the rock of Calvary.

John declares plainly that “the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the Devil.”  You could say that this sentence sums up John’s Gospel account, as it moves from the signs of Jesus’ seven miracles, to the Sign of the Cross, the glory of which destroys Satan’s power.  John’s account of the Gospel shows how Jesus “revealed” Himself to mankind in stages.  So the Holy Spirit has worked in the history of the Church, and in the life of each saint.  Ask God for yet another Christmas gift:  the same patience with your own spiritual growth that God has with you, as He continues unfailingly throughout your life to love you.

The Most Holy Name of Jesus
1 John 2:29—3:6  +  John 1:29-34
January 3, 2018

“Now I have seen and testified that He is the Son of God.”

While the feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus is only an optional memorial in the Church’s liturgical calendar, its meaning dovetails beautifully with the Scriptures the Church proclaims today from the writings of St. John.

The Most Holy Name of “Jesus” literally means “God saves”.  In today’s Gospel passage, when His cousin John sees Jesus approaching he declares, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”  God saves us from the power of sin through the self-sacrifice of the Lamb of God.

One obvious reason why we hear 1 John proclaimed as our First Reading during Christmastide is its emphasis on childhood.  Unbelievers can see the spirit of Christmas in the joy and wonder of a child, even if they choose not to emulate her.  The Beloved Disciple wants us to emulate himself when he beckons us to see “what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.”

It is the love of God the Father that makes us His Children.  This is so because “God is Love”, and in giving us a share in His life, we become like Him.  This love is bestowed on us through the Father’s Gift of His only-begotten Son.

Sts. Basil the Great & Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops & Doctors of the Church
1 John 2:22-28  +  John 1:19-28
January 2, 2018

And now, children, remain in Him….

St. John the Evangelist often writes in a style that can leave you scratching your head.  Even when he tells a story in his Gospel account with a straight-forward plot, there’s a pervasive sense of double meanings.

In his epistles his language can seem abstract.  In today’s First Reading, for example, he uses phrases encouraging his listeners to “remain in” the Father and the Son, and to allow what they heard, and the anointing they received, to “remain in” them.  What does this phrase “remain in” refer to?

The key to everything that John teaches is found in his Gospel prologue:  John 1:1-18.  What can seem at first like philosophy is in fact a profound mystery of our Faith.  This is the truth of the Incarnation, which we celebrate through the five mysteries of the Christmas Season:  “The Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us” [John 1:14].  This mystery is the foundation for the “divinization” that God calls each Christian to, where God dwells in the Christian and the Christian dwells in God (this is sometimes called the “divine indwelling”).

This is not a reality that can be understood through physical terms, but we can base our understanding of it upon a most basic human experience:  love.  The three Persons of the Blessed Trinity are Love, and are the basis for you as a Christian to remain in God’s life of love, and to allow His love to remain in you.