Thursday, January 5, 2023

 Memorial of St. John Neumann, bishop

 (I John 3:11-21; John 1:43-51)

 “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways,” wrote Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning.  She continued to name manifold ways from childhood faith to eternal joy in which her love for her husband thrived.  There is a similar concentration on the glory of love in the First Letter of John.  Because Christmas is, above all, a testament to God’s love for the world, the first reading these days is taken from that work.

 John has testified that God is love.  To please God then, John indicates that Christians must imitate God’s loving.  Their love for God sung in the carols of Christmas must flow from words into action.  If not, John would say, then it is counterfeit.  The test comes when one sees a member of the community in need.  Just as Jesus gave his life for his followers, one has to assist the needy brother or sister.

Love, like all virtue, is a habit, but this fact does not mean that it is performed in a routine way.  Love calls for creativity at times along with constant care.  We love when we spontaneously call a friend with whom we haven’t talked for a while.  We love when we provide a word of encouragement or, if necessary, a word of criticism so that others may become better persons.

 

 

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