Posted on 01/02/2018 9:27:35 PM PST by Salvation
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From: 1 John 2:29-3:6
Not Listening to Heretics (Continuation)
We are Children of God
A Child of God Does Not Sin
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
1-24. This entire chapter shows how moved the Apostle is when he contem-
plates the marvelous gift of divine filiation. The Holy Spirit, who is the author of
all Sacred Scripture, has desired John to pass on to us this unique revelation:
we are children of God (v. 1).
It is not easy to divide the chapter into sections, because the style is very cyclic
and colloquial and includes many repetitions and further thoughts which make for
great vividness and freshness. However, we can distinguish an opening proclama-
tion of the central message (vv. 1-2) and emphasis on two requirements of divine
filiation — rejection of sin in any shape or form (vv. 3-10), and brotherly love lived
to the full (vv. 11-24).
1. “We should be called children of God”: the original Hebrew expression, which
reads “we are called...”, is also used by our Lord in the Beatitudes (cf. Mt 5:9):
“to be called” means the same as “to be called by God”; and in the language
of the Bible, when God gives someone a name he is not simply conferring a ti-
tle but is causing the thing that the name indicates (cf., e.g., Gen 17:5), for the
word of God is efficacious, it does what it says it will do. Hence St John’s ad-
ding: “and so we are”.
Therefore, it is not just a matter of a metaphorical title, or a legal fiction, or adop-
tion human-style: divine filiation is an essential feature of a Christian’s life, a mar-
velous fact whereby God gratuitously gives men a strictly supernatural dignity, an
intimacy with God whereby they are “domestici Dei”, “members of the household
of God” (Eph 219). This explains the tone of amazement and joy with which St
John passes on this revelation.
This sense of divine filiation is one of the central points in the spirituality of Opus
Dei. Its founder wrote: “We do not exist in order to pursue just any happiness.
We have been called to penetrate the intimacy of God’s own life, to know and
love God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and to love also—in
that same love of the one God in three divine Persons—the angels and all men.
“This is the great boldness of the Christian faith—to proclaim the value and digni-
ty of human nature and to affirm that we have been created to obtain the dignity
of children of God, through the grace that raises us up to a supernatural level. An
incredible boldness it would be, were it not founded on the promise of salvation
given us by God the Father, confirmed by the blood of Christ, and reaffirmed and
made possible by the constant action of the Holy Spirit” (”Christ Is Passing By”,
133).
“The world does not know us, (because) it did not know him”: these words are
reminiscent of our Lord’s at the Last Supper: “the hour is coming when whoever
kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do this because
they have not known the Father, nor me” (Jn 16:2-3). Divine filiation brings with
it communion and a mysterious identification between Christ and the Christian.
2. The indescribable gift of divine filiation, which the world does not know (v. 1),
is not fully experienced by Christians, because the seeds of divine life which it
contains will only reach their full growth in eternal life, when we see him “as he
is”, “face to face” (1 Cor 13:12); “this is eternal life, that they know thee the only
true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent” (Jn 17:3). In that direct sight of
God as he is, and of all things in God, the life of grace and divine filiation achieve
their full growth. Man is not naturally able to see God face to face; he needs to
be enlightened by a special light, which is given the technical theological name
of “lumen gloriae”, light of glory. This does not allow him to “take in” all God (no
created thing could do that), but it does allow him to look at God directly.
Commenting on this verse, the “St Pius V Catechism” explains that “beatitude
consists of two things—that we shall behold God such as he is in his own nature
and substance; and that we ourselves shall become, as it were, gods. For those
who enjoy God while they retain their own nature, assume a certain admirable
and almost divine form, so as to seem gods rather than men” (I, 13, 7).
“When he appears”: two interpretations are possible, given that in Greek the
verb has no subject: “when (what we shall be) is revealed we shall be as he is”;
or, as the New Vulgate translates it, “when he (Christ) is revealed we will be like
him (Christ)”. The second interpretation is the more likely.
3. “Purifies himself”: Christian hope, which is grounded on Christ, is something
active and it moves the Christian to “purify himself”. This verb is evocative of the
ritual purifications required of priests in the Old Testament prior to engaging in di-
vine service (cf. Ex 19:10; Num 8:21; Acts 21:24); here and in other places in the
New Testament, it means interior purification from sins, that is, righteousness,
holiness (1 Pet 1:22; Jas 4:8). Our model is Jesus Christ, “as he is pure”; he is
the One who has never had sin, the Righteous One (1 Jn 2:29; 3:7); a Christian
has no other model of holiness, as Jesus himself said: “Learn from me” (Mt 11:
29; cf. Jn 14:6). “We have to learn from him, from Jesus, who is our only model.
If you want to go forward without stumbling or wandering off the path, then all you
have to do is walk the road he walked placing your feet in his footprints and ente-
ring into his humble and patient Heart, there to drink from the wellsprings of his
commandments and of his love. In a word, you must identify yourself with Jesus
Christ and try to become really and truly another Christ among your fellow men”
(St. J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 128).
4-5. “Sin is lawlessness”: although this is not strictly speaking a definition, it
does convey a basic idea: every sin is more than a transgression of a precept
of the moral law; it is above all, an offense against God, the author of that law,
a despising and a rejection of his will.
To understand the scope of this assertion, one needs to start from the fact that
man has been created by God and is ever-dependent on him. So, every sin in-
volves a pretentious desire to be like God (cf. Gen 3:5), to build one’s life without
reference to, or even in opposition to, God. Everyone who sins severs his alle-
giance to God and takes the devil’s side. In this the mystery and “lawlessness”
of sin consists. “This expression,” Bl. John Paul II explains, “which echoes what
St Paul writes concerning the mystery of evil (cf. 2 Thess 2:7), helps us to grasp
the obscure and intangible element hidden in sin. Clearly, sin is a product of
man’s freedom. But deep within its human reality there are factors at work which
place it beyond the merely human, in the border-area where man’s conscience,
will and sensitivity are in contact with the dark forces which, according to St
Paul, are active in the world almost to the point of ruling it (cf. Rom 7:7-24; Eph
2:2; 6:12)” (”Reconciliatio et Paenitentiae”, 14).
Moreover, now that Christ has brought about our Redemption, every sin implies
an offense to our Redeemer; it means crucifying again the Son of God (cf. Heb
6:6). So, St John reminds us about the main purpose of the Incarnation: “he ap-
peared to take away sins” (v. 5). There is an echo here of the words the Apostle
heard the Baptist say: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of
the world!” (Jn 1:29).
Thus, as we profess in the Creed at Mass, “for us men and for our salvation he
(the Word) came down from heaven”. Being true God and therefore completely
exempt from sin (v. 5), he took on our human nature, to burden himself with our
sins and nail them to the Cross. Therefore, the Christian, ransomed from the po-
wer of the devil by the precious blood of Christ, and intimately united
to him by the life of grace, has broken with sin once for all.
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: John 1:29-34
The Witness of John (Continuation)
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
29. For the first time in the Gospel Christ is called the “Lamb of God”. Isaiah had
compared the sufferings of the Servant of Yahweh, the Messiah, with the sacrifice
of a lamb (cf. Isaiah 53:7); and the blood of the paschal lamb smeared on the door
of houses had served to protect the firstborn of the Israelites in Egypt (cf. Exodus
12:6-7): all this was a promise and prefiguring of the true Lamb, Christ, the victim
in the sacrifice of Calvary on behalf of all mankind. This is why St. Paul will say
that “Christ, our Paschal Lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). The ex-
pression “Lamb of God” also suggests the spotless innocence of the Redeemer
(cf. 1 Peter 1:18-20; 1 John 3:5).
The sacred text says “the sin of the world”, in the singular, to make it absolutely
clear that every kind of sin is taken away: Christ came to free us from Original
Sin, which in Adam affected all men, and from all personal sins.
The Book of Revelation reveals to us that Jesus is victorious and glorious in Hea-
ven as the slain lamb (cf. Revelation 5:6-14), surrounded by saints, martyrs and
virgins (Revelation 7:9, 14; 14:1-5), who render Him the praise and glory due Him
as God (Revelation 7:10).
Since Holy Communion is a sharing in the sacrifice of Christ, priests say these
words of the Baptist before administering it, to encourage the faithful to be grate-
ful to our Lord for giving Himself up to death to save us and for giving Himself to
us as nourishment for our souls.
30-31. John the Baptist here asserts Jesus’ superiority by saying that He existed
before him, even though He was born after him. Thereby he shows us the divinity
of Christ, who was generated by the Father from all eternity and born of the Virgin
Mary in time. It is as if the Baptist were saying: “Although I was born before Him,
He is not limited by the ties of His birth; for although He is born of His mother in
time, He was generated by His Father outside of time” (St. Gregory the Great,
“In Evangelia Homiliae”, VII).
By saying what he says in verse 31, the Precursor does not mean to deny his
personal knowledge of Jesus (cf. Luke 1:36 and Matthew 3:14), but to make it
plain that God revealed to him the moment when he should publicly proclaim Je-
sus as Messiah and Son of God, and that he also understood that his own mis-
sion as precursor had no other purpose than to bear witness to Jesus Christ.
32-34. To emphasize the divinity of Jesus Christ, the Evangelist includes here the
Precursor’s testimony regarding Jesus’ Baptism (cf. the other Gospels, which de-
scribe in more detail what happened on this occasion: Matthew 3:13-17 and para-
graph). It is one of the key points in our Lord’s life, in which the mystery of the
Blessed Trinity is revealed (cf. note on Matthew 3:16).
The dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, of whom it is said in Genesis 1:2 that He
was moving over the face of the waters. Through this sign of the dove, the Isaiah
prophecies (11:2-5: 42:1-2) are fulfilled which say that the Messiah will be full of
the power of the Holy Spirit. The Baptist points to the great difference between
the baptism he confers and Christ’s Baptism; in John 3, Jesus will speak about
this new Baptism in water and in the Spirit (cf. Acts 1:5; Titus 3:5).
“The Son of God”: it should be pointed out that in the original text this expression
carries the definite article, which means that John the Baptist confesses before
his listeners the supernatural and transcendent character of Christ’s messiahship
— very far removed from the politico-religious notion which Jewish leaders had
forged.
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
Liturgical Colour: White.
| First reading | 1 John 2:29-3:6 © |
|---|
| Responsorial Psalm |
|---|
| Psalm 97(98):1,3-6 © |
| Gospel Acclamation |
|---|
| Or | Jn1:14,12 |
|---|
| Or | Heb1:1-2 |
|---|
| Gospel | John 1:29-34 © |
|---|
Pray for Pope Francis.
US Promises to Help Nigeria Exterminate Boko Haram
Is This Bishop Right about the Rosary Conquering Boko Haram? [Catholic Caucus]
Why Boko Haram and ISIS Target Women
Report reveals scale of Boko Haram violence inflicted on Nigerian Catholics
Military evacuating girls, women rescued from Boko Haram
Echos of Lepanto Nigerian bishop says rosary will bring down Boko Harm
After vision of Christ, Nigerian bishop says rosary will bring down Boko Haram (Catholic Caucus)
Nigerian Bishop Says Christ Showed Him How to Beat Islamic Terror Group
We thank you, God our Father, for those who have responded to your call to priestly ministry.
Accept this prayer we offer on their behalf: Fill your priests with the sure knowledge of your love.
Open their hearts to the power and consolation of the Holy Spirit.
Lead them to new depths of union with your Son.
Increase in them profound faith in the Sacraments they celebrate as they nourish, strengthen and heal us.
Lord Jesus Christ, grant that these, your priests, may inspire us to strive for holiness by the power of their example, as men of prayer who ponder your word and follow your will.
O Mary, Mother of Christ and our mother, guard with your maternal care these chosen ones, so dear to the Heart of your Son.
Intercede for our priests, that offering the Sacrifice of your Son, they may be conformed more each day to the image of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Saint John Vianney, universal patron of priests, pray for us and our priests
This icon shows Jesus Christ, our eternal high priest.
The gold pelican over His heart represents self-sacrifice.
The border contains an altar and grapevines, representing the Mass, and icons of Melchizedek and St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney.
Melchizedek: king of righteousness (left icon) was priest and king of Jerusalem. He blessed Abraham and has been considered an ideal priest-king.
St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests.
1. Sign of the Cross: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
2. The Apostles Creed: I BELIEVE in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
3. The Lord's Prayer: OUR Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
4. (3) Hail Mary: HAIL Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen. (Three times)
5. Glory Be: GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
6. Fatima Prayer: Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.
Announce each mystery, then say 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, 1 Glory Be and 1 Fatima prayer. Repeat the process with each mystery.
End with the Hail Holy Queen:
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve! To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears! Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus!
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Final step -- The Sign of the Cross
The Mysteries of the Rosary By tradition, Catholics meditate on these Mysteries during prayers of the Rosary. The biblical references follow each of the Mysteries below.
The Glorious Mysteries
(Wednesdays and Sundays)
1.The Resurrection (Matthew 28:1-8, Mark 16:1-18, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-29) [Spiritual fruit - Faith]
2. The Ascension (Mark 16:19-20, Luke 24:50-53, Acts 1:6-11) [Spiritual fruit - Christian Hope]
3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-13) [Spiritual fruit - Gifts of the Holy Spirit]
4. The Assumption [Spiritual fruit - To Jesus through Mary]
5. The Coronation [Spiritual fruit - Grace of Final Perseverance]
St. Michael the Archangel
~ PRAYER ~
St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle
Be our protection against the wickedness
and snares of the devil;
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
Cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen
+
Luke 2:21 "...Et vocatum est Nomen eius IESUS"
("And His Name was called JESUS")
Psalm 90:14 "Because he hoped in me I will deliver him:
I will protect him because he hath known My Name."
Zacharias 10:12 "I will strengthen them in the Lord,
and they shall walk in His Name, saith the Lord."
Apocalypse 3:8 "I know thy works. Behold, I have given before thee a door opened, which no man can shut: because thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied My Name."
Apocalypse 15:4 "Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and magnify Thy Name?..."
Blessed be the most holy Name of Jesus without end!
January Devotion: The Holy Name of Jesus
The month of January is traditionally dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. This feast is also celebrated on January 3. Here is an explanation of the devotion.
Since the 16th century Catholic piety has associated entire months to special devotions. The devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus has been traditionally associated with the month of January, due to its celebration on January 3. The name Jesus was given to the Holy Child at God's command (Luke 1:31). The Holy Name is all-powerful because of the Person who bears it; we honor it because of the command of Christ, that we should pray in His Name and because it reminds us of all the blessings we receive through our Holy Redeemer. Hence St. Paul was able to write to the Philippians: ". . . at the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth" (Phil. 2:10). By means of this devotion we also make amends for improper use of the Holy Name.
Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954
Prayer/Hymn in Honor of the Most Holy Name of Jesus - Iesu, Dulcis Memoria
Iesu, Dulcis Memoria is a celebrated 12th century hymn attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), Doctor Mellifluus. The entire hymn has some 42 to 53 stanzas depending upon the manuscript. Parts of this hymn were used for the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, which was formerly celebrated on the Sunday between the Circumcision and Epiphany, or failing such a Sunday, on January 2. The part below was used at Vespers. In the liturgical revisions of Vatican II, the feast was deleted, though a votive Mass to the Holy Name of Jesus had been retained for devotional use. With the release of the revised Roman Missal in March 2002, the feast was restored as an optional memorial on January 3.
Jesus, the very thought of Thee
With sweetness fills the breast!
Yet sweeter far Thy face to see
And in Thy presence rest.
No voice can sing, no heart can frame,
Nor can the memory find,
A sweeter sound than Jesus' name,
The Savior of mankind.
O hope of every contrite heart!
0 joy of all the meek!
To those who fall, how kind Thou art!
How good to those who seek!
But what to those who find? Ah! this
Nor tongue nor pen can show
The love of Jesus, what it is,
None but His loved ones know.
Jesus! our only hope be Thou,
As Thou our prize shalt be;
In Thee be all our glory now,
And through eternity. Amen.
---Roman Breviary
Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954
O Divine Jesus, Thou hast promised that anything we ask of the Eternal Father in Thy name shall be granted.
O Eternal Father. In the name of Jesus, for the love of Jesus, in fulfillment of this promise, and because Jesus has said it, grant us our petitions for the sake of Jesus, Thy Divine Son. Amen.
Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Phil:2:10-11
The Most Holy Name
The Power of Jesus’ Name
What does IHS stand for? The meaning of the Holy Name of Jesus [Catholic Caucus]
Litany Of The Holy Name of Jesus
Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus
Jesus, The Name above all Names
Devotion to the Holy Name (of Jesus) [Catholic Caucus]
Lessons In Iconography : The Chi Rho - Christ
St. Francis de Sales on the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Excerpt from a Sermon) (Catholic Caucus)
St. Francis de Sales on the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Catholic/Orthodox Caucus)
St. Bernard on the Most Holy Name of Jesus [Ecumenical]
Saving the day in His Holy Name: St. Genevieve gets a reprieve [Catholic Caucus]
The Holy Name of Jesus
Holy Name of Jesus [San Bernadino of Siena] Ecumenical
The Holy Name of Jesus
Devotion to the Holy Name [of Jesus]
The Name of Jesus: Its Power in Our Lives
The Holy Name of Jesus
Devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus
The Holy Name of Jesus
“Look! There is the Lamb of God.”
In the Book of Revelation, the apostle John sees “a Lamb standing, a Lamb that had been slain.” (Rv 5:6)… On the banks of the Jordan, John the Baptist had called Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” At that tiime the apostle John had understood this word but now he understood the image. The one who previously had walked on the banks of the Jordan and who now had shown himself to him “wearing a white robe, with eyes that blazed like fire” and with the sword of the judge who is “the First and the Last” (Rv 1:13-17), had truly accomplished everything that the rites of the Old Covenant had sketched with symbols.
When, on the holiest and most solemn day of the year, the high priest entered into the Holy of Holies, the place that was terribly holy because of the divine Presence, he had previously taken two rams: one on which to lay the sins of the people so that it would take them to the desert, the other so that its blood would be sprinkled on the tent and the ark of the covenant (Lv 16). This ram was the sacrifice that was offered for the sin of the people… Then the high priest sacrificed a burnt offering for himself and for all the people and burned all the remains of the sacrifice of reconciliation… That day of reconciliation was a solemn and holy day…
But what had brought about the reconciliation? It was not the blood of the sacrificed animals, nor was it the high priest who was a descendant of Aaron, as Saint Paul said in his letter to the Hebrews (chs 8-9). It was the ultimate sacrifice of reconciliation, the one that was prefigured in all the sacrifices prescribed by the Law, and this was the “high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Ps 110:4)… He was also the true paschal Lamb because of whom the exterminating angel passed by the houses of the Hebrews when he struck the Egyptians (Ex 12:23). The Lord himself let his disciples understand this when he ate the paschal lamb with them for the last time and then gave himself to them as their food.
– Saint Francis de Sales
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