The text from the First Letter of John, in
the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, declares the gift of being affiliated with
God is one of being children of God. This level of intimacy may seem to stand
in contrast with the dualistic statements which clearly separate those in sin
from God. Our position in relation to God, like children in relation to
parents, is not static. We are on a journey of development. As John indicates
we do not know how our relationship will reveal God but we have faith and trust
that we will mature and our vision of the Divine intensify. Our free will, at
times, moves us to seek our passions without attention to God. Moving away from
God is moving toward the possibility that we reject our inheritance as children
and find only the death which is the consequence of our decision. This outcome
was feared for some in the community to whom John writes as the difficulty of
the “Word becoming flesh” for some influenced by Greek philosophy meant they
were turning in a direction leading them away from greater intimacy with God.
The gift of seeing Jesus is through revelation by the Holy Spirit. The Gospel
of John today expresses the revelation to John the Baptist through the action
of the Holy Spirit that Jesus is to be the Lamb who can take away the sins of
the world. Don Schwager comments that the experience of the Baptist as son of
the priest Zachariah gave him the experience of how the sacrifices in the
Temple for expiation of sin would be completed through the sacrifice of the Son
of God revealed to the Baptist as Jesus. As we grow in our relationship with
Jesus we are more aware of the Presence of God in those around us. Our brothers
and sisters are revealed to us as Children of God by the Spirit. We pray to
move together as members of the Body of Christ toward our Father.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment