BORN OF GOD
Introduction
The message of today speaks in two different senses of being God’s sons and daughters. There is first Christ, the Son of God in a deeper way than one said to be beloved by God. John recognizes him as God’s own Son, with a human and divine personality. He is sent among people by the Father as the One who will save us by his sufferings, as the Lamb, as the suffering servant.
On account of him, we are born of God, we are God’s sons and daughters, as John will say in his letter. However banal our existence may look, there is this astonishing truth: we are God’s children. This is not merely a beautiful word; it’s a deep reality. This dignity gives us the responsibility to grow, to give up sin, to mature to the full personhood of Christ, for that is what children are supposed to do.
1 JN 2:29–3:6
Once you’re convinced that he is right and righteous, you’ll recognize that all who practice righteousness are God’s true children.
What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to. But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning. Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own.All who indulge in a sinful life are dangerously lawless, for sin is a major disruption of God’s order. Surely you know that Christ showed up in order to get rid of sin. There is no sin in him, and sin is not part of his program. No one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin. None of those who do practice sin have taken a good look at Christ. They’ve got him all backward.
Jn 1:29-34
The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and yelled out, “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world! This is the man I’ve been talking about, ‘the One who comes after me but is really ahead of me.’ I knew nothing about who he was—only this: that my task has been to get Israel ready to recognize him as the God-Revealer. That is why I came here baptizing with water, giving you a good bath and scrubbing sins from your life so you can get a fresh start with God.” John clinched his witness with this: “I watched the Spirit, like a dove flying down out of the sky, making himself at home in him. I repeat, I know nothing about him except this: The One who authorized me to baptize with water told me, ‘The One on whom you see the Spirit come down and stay, this One will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ That’s exactly what I saw happen, and I’m telling you, there’s no question about it: This is the Son of God.”
Prayer
Lord God, Father of Jesus Christ,
in your only Son you have made us
your sons and daughters,
who are born of you and live your life.
Help us to seek your will always
and to grow in your love,
towards that freedom and maturity
to which you have called us
in Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord,
who lives with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Reflection:
The Holy Name of Jesus
1 John 2:29—3:6
To break with sign
Saint Paul could claim credit for promoting devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus because he wrote in his letter to the Philippians that God the Father gave Christ Jesus “that name that is above every name” (Phil. 2:9). This devotion became popular because of 12th-century Cistercian monks and nuns and particularly through the preaching of Saint Bernardine of Siena, a 15th-century Franciscan. He used this devotion to overcome bitter and often bloody class struggles and family rivalries in Italian city-states.
Today’s first reading moves on to the second part of John’s letter: ‘To live as God’s children’. John, the Evangelist, sets three ‘conditions’ to become true children of God. The first condition, part of which we read today, is ‘to break with sin’.
St. John reminds us that we are already children of God and what is in store for us when we see the Father face to face is that “we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is”. When we share the truth and love of Christ, which are poured into our hearts through our words, actions and life, we become God’s children in a very special sense, true reflections of our Father.
The world ridicules those who believe in God because it has not been able to see the presence of God in Jesus and his life. The greatest sign of God’s love for humankind is the gift of Jesus his Son (Jn 3:16), who made us true children of God. Being God’s child is a source of so much happiness and consolation now, and there will be so much more in the future!
The ‘first condition’ to have that face-to-face experience with Jesus, John reminds us to have a total break from everything contrary to God’s way. To enjoy that vision – the only goal of all living – is to remain single-minded and pure in our desire and passion.
It is impossible to be both close to Jesus and live a life of sin. “The one who sins has not seen him or known him.” The secret of being free from sin is to submit totally to the Way of Jesus, who takes away all sin in those who turn to him in a spirit of reconciliation. “The one who remains in him does not sin.” Love and sin are incompatible. Let us then pray that we may remain ever close, intimately close, to Jesus.