PODCAST - Press sideways triangle below to
listen
St.
Luke’s Institute
December
27, 2012
JOHN”S
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø On
this feast in honor of St. John, both of our readings are attributed to him
Ø The
1st reading especially catches my attention.
Ø It
contains the basic themes that are common to John’s thinking and these themes
are very appropriate this week as we celebrate the birth of Christ
WORD
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø Fundamental
to John is that he speaks of Jesus as the Word – with a capital W
Ø John
says, “What was from the beginning… concerns the Word of life”
Ø John
sees Jesus as pre-existing with the Father, as existing prior to moment of
creation
Ø He
is the Father’s thought or Word of himself
Ø It
is in this way and in this sense that Jesus is the Son of God and God himself
MADE
VISIBLE ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø And
then John says that in Jesus “the life was made visible”
Ø “We
proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible
to us”
Ø So,
God is life itself, life with no beginning or end, eternal life
Ø The
Word or Son of God is also this life or eternal life
Ø And
now, in Jesus, that eternal life is visible to us
FOR
FELLOWSHIP +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø Finally,
John proclaims this to us so that we may have “fellowship… with the Father
and with his Son, Jesus Christ”
Ø The
idea is that through Jesus, we share the life of God right now
Ø We
actually have begun to share and live eternal life
Ø Jesus
initiates us into this through baptism and continually nourishes this life
within us through the Eucharist
CONCLUSION
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø That
is the rich theology and the statement of faith that St John gives us this morning
Ø It
is because of this theology of the Word made flesh or God becoming visible that
we in our Catholic tradition celebrate St. John just two days after Christmas
Ø It
is not a life to be understood; more importantly, it is a life to be lived and
experienced
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
