In this first letter, this letter, the first reading, sorry, from the letter, first letter
of St. John, here John is writing to those who have the faith, they believe very intently
in Christ, he repeats over again, you've known him who was from the beginning, or other things
like you have conquered the evil one, or he repeats twice here at least, you have known
him who was from the beginning, of course that's Christ himself, they know him, they
believe in him, that is they believe in him, they love him, they are following him, and
he's warning them against following the world and worldly things.
Which will not lead them to the heavenly homeland, it will take them away.
He is telling them and warning all of us to stay away from sin and evil and vice, which
will pull us away from God, turn us away, but remain faithful to that faith, to that
one who was from the beginning.
The light.
And the same whom Anna the prophetess now sees in that Christ child, the small child,
the son of Mary, whom they have brought into the temple for the presentation and now she
sees him, and she continues to speak of him, here is the one who is to save us, here is
the light, the true light.
And then it carries on, sorry, Mary and Joseph now are referred to here without being mentioned
by name, it is they who the evangelist is referring to, who return to Galilee, to Nazareth,
with the child who is our Lord, who grows strong, filled with wisdom and favor, or we
might say grace, of God.
Precisely because he is.
But he remains with them and subject to them.
A continuation, basically, of what we reflected on yesterday, in reflecting on the Holy Family
of Nazareth, a perfect example of what family life should be and what we must follow.
You see, it is a life of deep, intense prayer.
You see, it is a life of deep, intense prayer.
You see, it is a life of deep, intense prayer.
You see, it is a life of deep, intense prayer.
You see, it is a life of deep, intense prayer.
It is constantly reminding ourselves of the presence of God – that we are seeking God and
we are returning to him.
We are returning to the Father, and so we must not follow any way that will lead us
away from him, which is what St. John is warning us about in the First Blue Reading.
This is because it goes down the same way with Jesus, because God is the only God and
all things, all existence are yours and yours alone.
Let us follow that example. Let us also, every one of us, every day, we're all
called to it, every one of us, that contemplation. Yes, even we may be
involved in feverish activity, much activity, but it has to be done in a
spirit of contemplation, reminding ourselves constantly of the presence of
God, looking up periodically throughout the day, turning to him, and just telling
him how much we love him. Praise be Jesus in there.