2 January 2020 - what we have heard from the beginning

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you.

What is the core of this truth that we have heard from the beginning? God is Trinity, three persons living one bond of eternal love. One of those persons became man to take away our sins. He suffered, died, rose, and sent his Spirit. He formed a Church to bring his truth and sacramental power to all times and places after he himself ascended into heaven. He will return to judge the living and the dead. These are the basics of our creed. We aren't likely to forget the basics of the Nicene-Constanipolitan Creed that we regularly recite, even given changes to the translation. Anyone who prays the rosary will have some variation of the Apostle's Creed close at hand.

If what you heard from the beginning remains in you,
then you will remain in the Son and in the Father.

Is it really just remembering the words of the creed that allows us to remain in the Son and the Father? Are we simply guarding against forgetfulness?

And this is the promise that he made us: eternal life.
I write you these things about those who would deceive you.

We can be deceived about these fundamental truths in ways that can put his promise of eternal life to us in jeopardy. This happens when we are deceived into sinful action. Our beliefs have consequences. We protect them not simply in the abstract, but reciting them repeatedly, but by living in accordance with their implications.

As for you,
the anointing that you received from him remains in you,
so that you do not need anyone to teach you.

The anointing is where the Spirit, our beliefs, and our wills intersect. The Holy Spirit shows us how to apply what we have known from the beginning to specific circumstances. We learn to rely on Jesus, to not turn from him or run away, even in spite of opposition, even when we face our own crosses in life. The anointing teaches us how to navigate the moral context of any situation. It helps us with the words we need in conversations explicitly about Jesus. It helps us say the best, most helpful, least fear-bound things in conversations that aren't explicitly about him. There is no part of our lives where we don't care about choosing the good. The anointing reveals this good to us.

“What are you then? Are you Elijah?”
And he said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”

The anointing reminds us who we are and who God is and how much he loves us. When we keep these things straight all else follows.

but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,
the one who is coming after me,
whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.

The earth still longs to see the saving power of God. May that saving power be seen at work in us.