Obedience and duplicity

Two themes of the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today are obedience and duplicity.

John1:45
Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” pic.twitter.com/HpFsDy1cuc

— Love Like Jesus (@DominusVobiscu) January 5, 2018

The First Letter of John urges us to be obedient to belief in Christ and love for one another.

* [3:19–24] Living a life of faith in Jesus and of Christian love assures us of abiding in God no matter what our feelings may at times tell us. Our obedience gives us confidence in prayer and trust in God’s judgment. This obedience includes our belief in Christ and love for one another.

In the Gospel from John, Jesus declares that Nathaniel is one who is without duplicity and in his struggle with God, he will experience encounter with the Divine.

* [1:47] A true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him: Jacob was the first to bear the name “Israel” (Gn 32:29), but Jacob was a man of duplicity (Gn 27:35–36).

Thomas Lenz, in the sense of making resolutions, challenges us to consider that the goal of every day is not to get to the end, but to find meaning and purpose as the day unfolds.

As I am writing this reflection, it is becoming clear that I may need an additional resolution to those I made a few days ago.  To add to my New Year’s intentions to eat better and exercise, this self-care resolution has to do with being mindful. It is all too easy to go through the daily grind just to get to the end. I believe there is real meaning in most everything we do throughout the day, if we just stop for a minute to recognize what is there. I do not want to have a goal of just getting through the day. I would like to experience meaning and purpose of each day as the day is unfolding.

The Catholic Daily Reflections website asks how free we are from guile and duplicity.  Are we people of great honesty, sincerity and transparency? We pray that God helps us grow in this virtue today.

If one has duplicity or guile it means they are two-faced and cunning.  They are skilled in the art of deception.  This is a dangerous and deadly quality to have.  But to say the opposite, that one has “no duplicity” or “no guile” is a way of saying that they are honest, straightforward, sincere, transparent and real.

Friar Jude Winkler comments that our understanding of love is diverse and the Love in the First Letter of John is Love is a willingness to to die to oneself for the other. The child of Israel description of Nathaniel by Jesus is connected to his wrestling with God under the fig tree.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, challenges us to see the image of Christ in the least of our brothers and sisters.

Can you see the image of Christ in the least of your brothers and sisters? This is Jesus’ only description of the final judgment (Matthew 25). But some say, “They smell. They’re a nuisance. They’re on welfare. They are a drain on our tax money.” Can we see Christ in all people, even the so-called “nobodies” who can’t or won’t play our game of success? When we can see the image of God where we don’t want to see the image of God, then we see with eyes not our own.

Our wrestling with God may be assisted by a discipline of obedience to resolutions to trust God and expect to see the divine image in our brothers and sisters even as we struggle to be transparent to those we encounter.

References

(n.d.). 1 John, chapter 3 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved January 5, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/1john/3

(n.d.). John, chapter 1 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved January 5, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/john1.htm

(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved January 5, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

(2017, August 24). No Duplicity or Guile – Catholic Daily Reflections. Retrieved January 5, 2018, from https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/2017/08/23/no-duplicity-guile/

(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved January 5, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/