Life giving proof

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today connect to evidence of life giving experience in relationship with Jesus.

Connection

The commentaries curated today offer guidance in growing in that experience.

The First Letter of John strongly asserts that life is found in our connection to the person of Jesus.

 * [5:6–12] Water and blood (1 Jn 5:6) refers to Christ’s baptism (Mt 3:16–17) and to the shedding of his blood on the cross (Jn 19:34). The Spirit was present at the baptism (Mt 3:16; Mk 1:10; Lk 3:22; Jn 1:32, 34). The testimony to Christ as the Son of God is confirmed by divine witness (1 Jn 5:7–9), greater by far than the two legally required human witnesses (Dt 17:6). To deny this is to deny God’s truth; cf. Jn 8:17–18. The gist of the divine witness or testimony is that eternal life (1 Jn 5:11–12) is given in Christ and nowhere else. To possess the Son is not acceptance of a doctrine but of a person who lives now and provides life.1

In the Gospel from Luke, a leper’s faith and Jesus compassion bring healing and fullness.

 * [5:14] Show yourself to the priest…what Moses prescribed: this is a reference to Lv 14:2–9 that gives detailed instructions for the purification of one who had been a victim of leprosy and thereby excluded from contact with others (see Lv 13:45–46, 49; Nm 5:2–3). That will be proof for them: see note on Mt 8:4.2

Steve Scholer prays that we focus this year on sharing our possessions, especially our most valuable possession, the Son of God, with others, and thereby affirm that, through our thoughts, words and deeds, Jesus truly does reside within us.

 How we live our daily lives as Christians is testimony and proof positive that we “possess” Christ and that he is with us each and every step of our journey through life. We must remember that Christ’s death on the cross was a gift to all of us and a gift we never want to lose possession of. We need to remember his gift in our thoughts, words and deeds, in hopes of making it more “tangible” to us and to cherish this wonderful — yet oh so intangible — gift.3

Don Schwager quotes “Jesus' healing demonstrates the power of the kingdom of heaven,” by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.

 "The authority of power in the Lord is here compared with the steadfastness of faith manifest in the leper (Luke 5:12-13). He fell on his face because it is a mark of humility and modesty that each feel shame for the sins of his life, but shyness did not restrict his confession. He showed the wound, he begged for the remedy, and the very confession is full of piety and faith. 'If you will,' it says, 'you can make me clean'” He conceded the power to the Lord's will. But he doubted concerning the Lord's will, not as if unbelieving in piety, but as if aware of his own impurity, he did not presume. The Lord replies to him with a certain holiness. 'I will: be clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.' For there is nothing between God's command and his work, because the work is in the command. Thus he spoke, and they came into being (Psalm 33:9). You see that it cannot be doubted that the will of God is power. If, therefore, his will is power, those who affirm that the Trinity is of One will affirm that it is of one power. Thus the leprosy departed immediately. In order that you may understand the effect of healing, he added truth to the work." (excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 5.2–3)4

The Word Among Us Meditation on 1 John 5:5-13 declares faith is not just a list of theological statements. That won’t give us the grace and conviction we need to overcome the self-centered philosophies in the world around us. Of course, we need to understand the truths of our faith, but lasting victory comes as we embrace these truths and let them change the ways we think and act.

Friar Jude Winkler connects the witness of Spirit, water and blood declared in 1 John to our sacramental life in Baptism and Eucharist. Jesus compassion is particularly underlined in the Gospel of Luke the physician. Friar Jude notes the philosophy of Luke that the good Jew or Gentile honestly seeking truth and beauty may follow Jesus example and the will of the Father.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, would like to offer some spiritual advice so that we can read Scripture the way that Jesus did and use it for good purposes.

 If your understanding of Scripture leads you to experience any or several of the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)—I think you can trust that this interpretation is from the Spirit, from the deeper stream of wisdom.
As you read, if you sense any negative or punitive emotions like morose delight, feelings of superiority, self-satisfaction, arrogant dualistic certitude, desire for revenge, need for victory, or a spirit of dismissal or exclusion, you must trust that this is not Jesus’ hermeneutic at work, but your own ego still steering the ship.

The Ven. Dr Edward Dowler, Archdeacon of Hastings in the diocese of Chichester, reviews Disarming Beauty: Essays on faith, truth and freedom by Julián Carrón.

 The solution to the current predicament will come, rather, only through the power of a personal and Christian encounter with people who are capable of disclosing to others a new and wider reality. Initially, this will be a human encounter, such as with a nurse or a teacher such as Fr Giussani, or with a group of Christians. Ultimately, such human encounters themselves mediate what is necessary above all: an encounter with Jesus himself. Carron quotes Benedict XVI in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est: “Being Christian is not an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.”
Giussani and Carron indicate some important lessons for the English and Anglican context, in which those who specialise in philosophical analysis, and those who emphasise the importance of introducing people to Jesus tend to operate in very different worlds.6

Fullness of life is experienced in an encounter with the person of Jesus.

References

1	(n.d.). 1 John chapter 5 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved January 11, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/1john/5
2	(n.d.). Luke chapter 5 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved January 11, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/5
3	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved January 11, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
4	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved January 11, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
5	(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archive - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved January 11, 2019, from https://cac.org/richard-rohr/daily-meditations/daily-meditations-archive/
6	(2018, September 21). Disarming Beauty: Essays on faith, truth and freedom, by Julián Carrón. Retrieved January 11, 2019, from https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2018/21-september/books-arts/book-reviews/disarming-beauty-essays-on-faith-truth-and-freedom-juli%C3%A1n-carr%C3%B3n