Word of Life

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, the Feast of Saint John, invites us to contemplate our relationship with the Word of Life.

Word of Life

The reading from the First Letter of John declares The Word of Life.

* [1:1–4] There is a striking parallel to the prologue of the gospel of John (Jn 1:1–18), but the emphasis here is not on the preexistent Word but rather on the apostles’ witness to the incarnation of life by their experience of the historical Jesus. He is the Word of life (1 Jn 1:1; cf. Jn 1:4), the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible (1 Jn 1:2; cf. Jn 1:14), and was heard, seen, looked upon, and touched by the apostles. The purpose of their teaching is to share that life, called fellowship…with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ, with those who receive their witness (1 Jn 1:3; Jn 1:14, 16). (1 John, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 97 praises the rewarding of the faithful righteous.

* [Psalm 97] The hymn begins with God appearing in a storm, a traditional picture of some ancient Near Eastern gods (Ps 97:1–6); cf. Ps 18:8–16; Mi 1:3–4; Heb 3:3–15. Israel rejoices in the overthrowing of idol worshipers and their gods (Ps 97:7–9) and the rewarding of the faithful righteous (Ps 97:10–12). (Psalms, PSALM 97 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of John describes The Empty Tomb.

* [20:1–10] The story of the empty tomb is found in both the Matthean and the Lucan traditions; John’s version seems to be a fusion of the two.

* [20:1] Still dark: according to Mark the sun had risen, Matthew describes it as “dawning,” and Luke refers to early dawn. Mary sees the stone removed, not the empty tomb.

* [20:2] Mary runs away, not directed by an angel/young man as in the synoptic accounts. The plural “we” in the second part of her statement might reflect a tradition of more women going to the tomb.

* [20:3–10] The basic narrative is told of Peter alone in Lk 24:12, a verse missing in important manuscripts and which may be borrowed from tradition similar to John. Cf. also Lk 24:24.

* [20:6–8] Some special feature about the state of the burial cloths caused the beloved disciple to believe. Perhaps the details emphasized that the grave had not been robbed. (John, CHAPTER 20 | USCCB, n.d.)

Martha Slocombe comments that Jesus says not to worry, because you will be given the words to say as you are persecuted. Jesus warns that people will hurt one another in the worst ways possible, but that enduring is worth it, that the Spirit – the Spirit of God – will save you. 

The stronger your relationship with God is, the more scripture you are familiar with, the more open you are to the movement of the Spirit, the easier it is to hear the Word of God put upon your lips. I like to call it "being in the zone" with God. Like athletes train to reach a state where they are hyper-aware and hyper-focused without being cognitively controlling – in a flow state – we can train to have that same level of existence with God, so that when the challenges come, we will receive the message God is sending us. (Slocombe, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “The Word of Life was seen and touched,” by Severus of Antioch (488-538 AD).

"Given that this same John also said, 'No one has ever seen God' (John 1:18, 1 John 1:4:12), how can he assure us that the living Word of Life has been seen and touched? It is clear that it was in his incarnate and human form that he was visible and touchable. What was not true of him by nature became true of him in that way, for he is one and the same indivisible Word, both visible and invisible, and without diminishing in either respect he became touchable in both his divine-human nature. For he worked his miracles in his divinity and suffered for us in his humanity." (excerpt from CATENA) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on 1 John 1:1-4 comments that St. John, whose feast we celebrate today, uses the language of the senses to speak about his relationship with Jesus, “the Word of life” (1 John 1:1). He talks about how he and his fellow apostles had “seen,” “looked upon,” “heard,” and “touched” Jesus. He marvels that God had “made visible” the One who was “life” himself (1:1, 2). He makes it clear that he is not just repeating a story he heard or describing a character from a myth or a fable. He is reflecting back on his own life and the way that he came to know Jesus—a real person, who was fully human and fully divine—so that we could come to know Jesus as well and share in his joy (1:4).

How blessed we are that our faith in Jesus is founded on the testimony of eyewitnesses like St. John! This is why we proclaim that we believe in “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.” The testimony of these apostles, reflected in the Gospels and handed down from generation to generation, can sustain us in times of difficulty and reassure us in times of doubt. It’s really true! The story of our salvation is solid and reliable—because real people like John saw and heard and touched the Son of God!

“Jesus, thank you for coming in the flesh to be our Savior!” (Meditation on 1 John 1:1-4, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler compares the Wisdom Incarnate of the Gospel of John, favoured by the Gnostics, to the Letter of John emphasizing the Incarnate God in Jesus. The proclamation of Mary Magdalene of the risen Lord to the community has her recognized as the “Apostle to the Apostles”. Friar Jude reminds us of the contrast in John’s Gospel between the beloved disciple who “sees and believes” and Peter who is reported as “seeing”.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, identifies God’s presence with us—right here, right now—in an embodied way.

Jesus teaches and is himself a message of now-ness, here-ness, concreteness, and this-ness. Virtually the only time Jesus talks about future time is when he tells us not to worry about it (see Matthew 6:25–34). Don’t worry about times and seasons, don’t worry about when God will return, don’t worry about tomorrow. Thinking about the future keeps us in our heads, far from presence—with God, with ourselves, and with each other. Jesus talks about the past in terms of forgiving it. Jesus tells us to hand the past over to the mercy and action of God. [1] 

The full and participatory meaning of Christmas is that this one universal mystery of divine incarnation is also intended for us and continues in us! It is not just about trusting the truth of the body of Jesus, but trusting its extension through the ongoing Body of Christ—which is an even bigger act of faith, hope, and love and which alone has the power to change history, society, and all relationships. To only hold a mental belief in Jesus as the “Child of God” has little or no effect in the real world. [2] (Rohr, n.d.)

We are invited to meditate on the meaning of the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us in this time of rest and reflection.

References

John, CHAPTER 20 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 27, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/20?1 

Meditation on 1 John 1:1-4. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved December 27, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/12/27/1166380/ 

1 John, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 27, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1john/1?1 

Psalms, PSALM 97 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 27, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/97? 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). The Divine in This and in Us. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 27, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-divine-in-this-and-in-us/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). John Saw the Word of God Made Flesh and Believed. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 27, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=dec27 

Slocombe, M. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved December 27, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/122724.html