The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to review the needs of the people in our environment and prepare to be present to them as followers of Jesus.
The Reading from the First Letter of John proclaims our Life from God’s Anointing as Children of God.
* [2:22–23] Certain gnostics denied that the earthly Jesus was the Christ; to deny knowledge of the Son is to deny the Father, since only through the Son has God been fully revealed (Jn 1:18; 14:8–9).
* [2:24] Continuity with the apostolic witness as proclaimed in the prologue is the safeguard of right belief.
* [2:28–29] Our confidence at his judgment is based on the daily assurance of salvation. Our actions reflect our true relation to him. (1 John, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 98 is extolling God for Israel’s victory.
* [Psalm 98] A hymn, similar to Ps 96, extolling God for Israel’s victory (Ps 98:1–3). All nations (Ps 98:4–6) and even inanimate nature (Ps 98:7–8) are summoned to welcome God’s coming to rule over the world (Ps 98:9). (Psalms, PSALM 98 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Gospel of John declares John the Baptist’s Testimony to Himself.
* [1:19–51] The testimony of John the Baptist about the Messiah and Jesus’ self-revelation to the first disciples. This section constitutes the introduction to the gospel proper and is connected with the prose inserts in the prologue. It develops the major theme of testimony in four scenes: John’s negative testimony about himself; his positive testimony about Jesus; the revelation of Jesus to Andrew and Peter; the revelation of Jesus to Philip and Nathanael.
* [1:19] The Jews: throughout most of the gospel, the “Jews” does not refer to the Jewish people as such but to the hostile authorities, both Pharisees and Sadducees, particularly in Jerusalem, who refuse to believe in Jesus. The usage reflects the atmosphere, at the end of the first century, of polemics between church and synagogue, or possibly it refers to Jews as representative of a hostile world (Jn 1:10–11).
* [1:20] Messiah: the anointed agent of Yahweh, usually considered to be of Davidic descent. See further the note on Jn 1:41.
* [1:21] Elijah: the Baptist did not claim to be Elijah returned to earth (cf. Mal 3:19; Mt 11:14). The Prophet: probably the prophet like Moses (Dt 18:15; cf. Acts 3:22).
* [1:23] This is a repunctuation and reinterpretation (as in the synoptic gospels and Septuagint) of the Hebrew text of Is 40:3 which reads, “A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord.”
* [1:24] Some Pharisees: other translations, such as “Now they had been sent from the Pharisees,” misunderstand the grammatical construction. This is a different group from that in Jn 1:19; the priests and Levites would have been Sadducees, not Pharisees.
* [1:26] I baptize with water: the synoptics add “but he will baptize you with the holy Spirit” (Mk 1:8) or “…holy Spirit and fire” (Mt 3:11; Lk 3:16). John’s emphasis is on purification and preparation for a better baptism. (John, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)
Cindy Murphy McMahon comments that it always comes back to putting our sights on God, on Jesus, doesn’t it? As John says twice in 1 John, “remain in him.” We really have no hope if we take our sights off of God, his word, his Son, and put them exclusively on the present world and all of its divisions and rancor.
In the Gospel, John writes that when priests and Levites came to John the Baptist asking who he was, “He admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, ‘I am not the Christ.’” How refreshing. Someone admitting and not denying something. Present-day politicians do not know the meaning of those words. Their mantra is admit nothing, deny everything.
John points his questioners to Jesus, gladly. Even though his own situation is bleak, he is happy to direct them to Jesus. He, and the whole of Scripture as well, points us to Jesus, too. The Alpha and the Omega. Our beginning and our end.
Lord, help us to follow John’s lead, and always look to your Son for the answer to every problem, for the Way, the Truth and the Life. (Murphy McMahon, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “John points to the Redeemer,” by Gregory the Great (540-604 AD).
"John did not baptize with the Spirit but with water, since he was unable to take away the sins of those being baptized. He washed their bodies with water but not their hearts with pardon. Why did one whose baptism did not forgive sins baptize, except that he was observing his vocation as forerunner? He whose birth foreshadowed greater birth, by his baptizing foreshadowed the Lord who would truly baptize. He whose preaching made him the forerunner of Christ, by baptizing also became his forerunner, using a symbol of the future sacrament. With these other mysteries he makes known the mystery of our Redeemer, declaring that he has stood among people and not been known. The Lord appeared in a human body: he came as God in flesh, visible in his body, invisible in his majesty." (excerpt from FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 4) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on 1 John 2:22-28 comments that God does love to give us new gifts, but he often does it by breathing new life into what he has already given us. The truths that we have known for years and years still have power and life in them.
At the beginning of a new year, in a rapidly changing world, Jesus’ promise is the same as it always was: you can remain in me, held, rooted, secure. There’s no need to chase the latest thing. Hold on to the truth that is already alive in your heart!
“Jesus, help me to remain in you, the Word spoken from the beginning.” (Meditation on 1 John 2:22-28, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments in the first reading from the First Letter of John, the question of the anti Christ, the ones who deny Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Father, is expressed. Greek philosophy considered the material world unable to be associated with the Divine. When the Jewish religious leaders visit John and ask who the Baptist is, he identifies as the voice of one crying in the desert. John points to Jesus in this Gospel and is the akin to the best man at the wedding. The best man wishes many children for the Bridegroom who must increase and John the Baptist must decrease when the Bridegroom is here.
Father Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Carlos Rodríguez, founder of The Happy Givers nonprofit based in Puerto Rico, who shares how he was challenged to be salt and light for an elderly man.
I went to see Don Héctor at the hospital. He was so happy to see us, and he immediately began to share the reality of being an elderly person in a hospital in Puerto Rico where we’re lacking doctors and nurses. The main thing he was frustrated with was the fact that he hadn’t had access to a shower for that whole week, and he took great pride in his appearance.
There’s nothing like being salt and light. As Father Richard has said many times, “The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the good.” And giving Don Héctor a shower and spending time with him was the good….
We keep finding God in those showers. We keep finding God in these [things] that remind us of our childhood and our brokenness, but that also invite us into generational healing and transformation. There are so many good ethics and teachings and books, and there are so many good people speaking into microphones, but there’s nothing like just being present with the ones who need presence. (Rohr, n.d.)
We implore the Wisdom of the Spirit to reveal the needs and care we are called to address as followers of Christ below the surface of our prejudices and distractions.
References
John, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 2, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/1?19
Meditation on 1 John 2:22-28. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved January 2, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/01/02/1463835/
Murphy McMahon, C. (n.d.). Daily Reflections. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved January 2, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-january-2-2026
1 John, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 2, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1john/2?22
Psalms, PSALM 98 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 2, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/98?1
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Dignity Is Non-Negotiable. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved January 2, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/dignity-is-non-negotiable/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Christ Stands among You. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved January 2, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/
No comments:
Post a Comment