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...and touched
Following up on Sunday’s Gospel and noting that in the Office of Readings during the sixth week of Easter, we read from the First Letter of John, We return to the connection of the Law and the keeping of the Commandments. The first letter of John emphasizes the Incarnation of Jesus and demands that we experience the Word becoming Flesh in a practical way in our own lives.
Fundamentally, the Incarnation, the Second Person of the Trinity becoming flesh, means that our faith is about things that are tangible. As human beings, we have bodies. We have a soul that is spiritual, but it is joined with a body that is physical and material. Hence it is never enough for our faith to be about only thoughts, philosophies, concepts, or historical facts. Their truth must also touch the physical part of who we are. Our faith must become flesh; it has to influence our behavior. If that is not the case, then the Holy Spirit, speaking through John, has something to call us: liars.
God’s love for us in not just a theory or idea. It is a flesh and blood reality that can be seen, heard, and touched. The challenge of the Christmas season is for us to allow the same thing to happen to our faith. The Word of God and our faith cannot simply remain on the pages of a book or in the recesses of our intellect. They must become flesh in our life. Our faith has to leap off the pages of the Bible and the Catechism and become flesh in the way we live our life, the decisions we make, and the way we use our body, mind, intellect, and will.
Consider the following passage, from 1 John.(This excerpt is fairly representative of the tone of entire letter).
Continued below.
Love is Not About Abstractions - Community in Mission
Following up on Sunday’s Gospel and noting that in the Office of Readings during the sixth week of Easter, we read from the First Letter of John, We return to the connection of the Law and the keeping of the Commandments. The first letter of John emphasizes the Incarnation of Jesus and demands that we experience the Word becoming Flesh in a practical way in our own lives.
Fundamentally, the Incarnation, the Second Person of the Trinity becoming flesh, means that our faith is about things that are tangible. As human beings, we have bodies. We have a soul that is spiritual, but it is joined with a body that is physical and material. Hence it is never enough for our faith to be about only thoughts, philosophies, concepts, or historical facts. Their truth must also touch the physical part of who we are. Our faith must become flesh; it has to influence our behavior. If that is not the case, then the Holy Spirit, speaking through John, has something to call us: liars.
God’s love for us in not just a theory or idea. It is a flesh and blood reality that can be seen, heard, and touched. The challenge of the Christmas season is for us to allow the same thing to happen to our faith. The Word of God and our faith cannot simply remain on the pages of a book or in the recesses of our intellect. They must become flesh in our life. Our faith has to leap off the pages of the Bible and the Catechism and become flesh in the way we live our life, the decisions we make, and the way we use our body, mind, intellect, and will.
Consider the following passage, from 1 John.(This excerpt is fairly representative of the tone of entire letter).
Continued below.
Love is Not About Abstractions - Community in Mission
