God reveals: love as annointing in the Spirit

WORD 2day: Thursday after Epiphany

January 9, 2025 - 1 John 4:19 - 5:4; Luke 4: 14-22

The Word gives us a series of reasons to love: because God loves us; because anyone who says he or she loves God has to; because whoever believes in Jesus has to; because every one who is begotten by God has to; and finally Jesus summarises it, because we have been annointed with the Spirit. The sign, that we are people begotten by the Father, that we are people who accept and proclaim Jesus as the Lord, that we are people filled with the Spirit, is that we love one another. Isn't this what Jesus told us elsewhere: by this they will know that you are my disciples, by the the love that you have for one another (cf. 13: 35). 

Jesus reveals himself as a person filled with the Spirit, and the people notice it. The people marvelled at it. They were astonished by it. But for Jesus it was no matter of marvel or astonishment, it was his identity. He declared it with such simplicity and went about doing or living what he declared. He went about doing good, proclaiming liberty to the captives, new sight to the blind, freedom to the downtrodden, the year of Lord's favour to all! These became his mission because of his identity as the person filled with the Spirit - the identity of one who loved every one. 

There are two invitations presented to us in the Word today: to realise that we are people annointed with the Spirit, and to convince ourselves that love is an annointing in the Spirit. 

God reveals: to love is Christ

WORD 2day: Wednesday after Epiphany

January 8, 2025 - 1 John 4:11-18; Mark 6: 45-52

Let us take a close look at these two statements: "If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God"; and the other statement, "God is love and anyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him." There is a syllogistic corollary that John is creating in these lines, in his letter - to say, to believe in Christ is to live in God; to live in God is to live in love; and therefore to live in Christ is to live in love! Without living in love one cannot live in Christ. 

Christ shows to his followers another sign today, walking on the water! Every one marvelled at him for this, but do we ever see him lecturing to the disciples on how to walk on water or multiply bread or chase an evil spirit out? Never. For him these were not important feats, but loving the other was! He insisted without getting tired about how to love and how much to love; in fact, he did not stop with talking to them about loving, but he taught them to love with his own example of laying down his life for love! 

He was certain and absolutely clear - to love is to live in God, and that is why he was all the time in God and never feared having to die - for he lived in God and lived love. When we live in Christ, we shall live in love and we shall live in God, because to love is Christ.