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Time of Mercy Blog

 

God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son (cf. 1 Jn 5:11)


Saint John very often returns to the truth about Jesus Christ as the Son of God who came to earth in the flesh to give life. The recognition of this truth is the very core of his faith. “Jesus Christ is the One who came through the water and the blood and the Spirit” (cf. 1 John 5: 6). At the beginning of his letter, he wrote: “ What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life - for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us” (cf. Jn 1:1-2)

In the Gospel and his letter, Saint John tries to tell us the good news about the living presence of God and the bestowal of life for us through his Son. Why is it so important? It seems that the greatest danger to faith is experiencing it in feelings and thoughts, without any specific connections into life. It is then an ideological faith, completely false, a faith that does not lead to the knowledge of God. This is the faith that the Lord Jesus strongly criticized in the Pharisees. Piety that builds up a false image of oneself is a great satanic temptation, always actual today and in relation to us. Let us once again refer to the Letter of St. John: If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. (cf. 1 Jn 4:20)

Saint John gives clear criteria for recognizing true faith in God and distinguishing it from the pretense of faith. He gives it to us to authentically know ourselves and our faith. And so, if I do not love, which means, among other things: I cannot forgive, I cannot respect the otherness of the other, I try to look for what is only bad in my neighbor …. One could make a list of such specific attitudes that indicate a lack of love, and a similar list relating to true love, and on this basis, recognize the truth about oneself in one's conscience.


Therefore, if I do not love everyone, my faith is incomplete, and therefore I do not truly love God.

The same truth is expressed by St. John in the sentence: "believe in the name of the Son of God." We read them literally: faith is the recognition of all articles of faith as true. Basically, faith is in our minds, lives in our head. However, this is not what the words "faith in the name of the Son of God" are about. To understand this better, let us go to the Acts of the Apostles, to a scene of healing by St. Peter of a lame from birth. When he asked for alms, St. Peter said to him: I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, [rise and] walk” (cf. Acts 3:6). Later before the Sanhedrin he said: And by faith in his name, (name of Jesus) this man, whom you see and know, his name has made him strong (cf. Acts 3:16). "Faith in the name" brings life. But it is not, of course, about faith as an ideological declaration.

Moreover, by saying the name, we call that person. Faith in the name of Jesus has two dimensions: believing in who He is and in what He has done. Jesus said about himself: I have conquered the world (cf. Jn 16:33) - At the same time, faith in the name of Jesus means turning to him personally, entrusting oneself to him. This entrustment always has a specific dimension and meaning. This entrustment to him should be the same as his entrustment to the Father.

We very often lack true faith - even in the ordinary human dimension: we do not truly believe in the ordinary wisdom or certain rules; what to say about rules of faith given to us by God! Real faith is authentic abandonment and living according to what you have believed. Then the word becomes truth in two dimensions: by fulfilling it and by our personal experience, because God fulfills in us the promise related to this word. Saint John writes:“Whoever possesses the Son has life (cf. 1 Jn 5:12). In the Eucharist, Christ gives himself to us, we receive him. If we accept Him with faith, we receive eternal life, as promised: “Whoever possesses the Son has life.”

Unitil Tomorrow

fr. george

George Bobowski