Love: Putting the Word Into Action

 

 1 John, 4: 19-5: 4)

¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. ²¹ And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Overcoming the World

5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. ² By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. ³ For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. ⁴ For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

¹⁴ Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. ¹⁵ He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

¹⁶ He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
¹⁹     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”^[a]

²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. ²¹ He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

²² All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

A quadruple "whammy" today:  1, Most Dioceses celebrate the Epiphany, highlighting the visit of the Three Kings, 2.  The  encouraging words of St. John, 3. Jesus announces his mission, 4. The quiet but powerful presence of St. Andre Bissette pointing to his beloved St. Joseph. Lots of food for thought, especially as we come off celebrating the Year of St. Joseph, who exemplified by his quiet, simple life all that we read in these Scripture passages.  St. Andre, barely educated but so strong in his faith and devotion to St. Joseph that he was the instrument for thousands of miraculous cures,  and the building of the largest shrine in the world to St. Joseph, St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal. How God uses the simple and "weak" in the eyes of the world to accomplish his work in the world becomes evident over and over again.  There's a place for us, here. May we strive to live the above passages and follow the example of both St. Joseph and St. Andre, and see what we can do to build God's Kingdom in our little square of the world.

Bro. Rene