Thursday, January 10, 2019

Thursday after Epiphany

(I John 4:19-5:4; Luke 5:12-16)

In a movie adaptation of Les Miserables, Jean Valjean writes his wife a letter from prison.  A largely unlettered man, he only manages to say, “I love you,” over and over again.  The first letter of John may sound equally simplistic.  However, its meaning is as profound as its lesson is worth repeating.

The author of the letter knows how the world can corrupt a person.  For this reason he underlines the need to keep God’s commandments.  He argues that this is not a difficult task.  Since the essence of the commandments is love, keeping them brings one delight.  “Not necessarily true,” one might object after trying to please a difficult person.  But John locates the object of love not in other people but in God.  Remembering the Father’s gift and the Son’s crucifixion makes our sacrifices for others seem trivial. 

As defrocked Christmas trees dot empty lots, Christmas becomes a flickering memory.  Our resolve to live each day with the love we felt on Christmas can grow similarly vague.  These readings from the First Letter of John, then, serve as critical reminders.  They tell us how God has given us Christ so that we might care for one another.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Christmas Weekday

(I John 4:19-5:4; Luke 5:12-16)

In a movie adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel Les Miserables, Jean Valjean writes a letter to his wife from prison. He is a largely unlettered man so he only manages to say, “I love you,” over and over again. The first letter of John, from which we read today, may sound almost as simplistic. However, its meaning is as profound as its lesson is worth repeating.

The author of the letter knows from bitter experience how the world can corrupt a person. For this reason he underlines the need to keep God’s commandments. But, he says, this is not a difficult task because the essence of the commandments is love which brings its own delight. “Not necessarily true,” we might object from our own experience trying to please difficult persons. But John locates the object of love exercised on behalf of others to be God Himself. Realizing this, the sacrifices we make seem negligible in comparison to all the blessings that God has heaped upon us.

As defrocked Christmas trees dot empty lots, Christmas becomes a flickering memory. Our resolve to live each day with the love we felt on Christmas can grow similarly vague. These readings from the First Letter of John, then, become critical reminders that God has given us Christ so that we might continue caring for others.

Homilette for January 10, 2008

Thursday after Epiphany

(I John 4:19-5:4)

In a movie adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel Les Miserables, a prisoner writes a love letter to his wife. He is a largely unlettered man without grandiose ideas so he only repeats “I love you” over and over again. The first letter of John, from which we read today, may sound almost as simplistic. However, its meaning is as profound as its lesson is worth repeating.

The author of the letter knows from bitter experience how the world can corrupt a person. For this reason he underlines the need to keep God’s commandments. But, he says, this is not a difficult task because the essence of the commandments is love which brings its own delight. “Not necessarily true,” we might object from our own experience trying to please difficult persons. But John finds as the object of love the virtuous brothers and sisters of the faith community. In caring for these good people, he concludes, the person fulfills the natural desire to return God’s love shown in the gift of Christ.

As defrocked Christmas trees dot empty lots, Christmas becomes a flickering memory. Our resolve to live each day with the love we felt on Christmas may have become similarly vague. John’s persistent reminders that God has given us Christ keep us from forgetting about the desirability of loving.