First John Day One

The speaker is expressing the joy of sharing the Gospel during the Octave of Christmas. They reflect on the mystery of the Incarnation and the significance of Jesus Christ as the Word made flesh. They emphasize the accessibility of God through Jesus and the importance of fellowship with the Father and the Son. The speaker also highlights the role of apostolic preaching in experiencing the living Word of God. They encourage the listener to meditate on the passage and to focus on Jesus in prayer. Overall, the speaker finds joy in sharing the Gospel and experiencing the presence of Jesus. Greetings, friends. What a joy to share the Gospel. Thank you for joining me on this third day of the Octave of Christmas, these eight days that are really celebrated as one single day, the day of Christmas when God entered into this world as one of us. The mystery of the Incarnation is so dense, so rich, so full of transcendence, that we simply must take more than a single day to mark it. To begin with, we take this octave, these eight days, to slow down time and to stay at the manger, contemplating the Word made flesh as a little, vulnerable, precious baby boy. Today, we begin at the invitation of the Church through her liturgy to walk with St. John in his first letter. Let's pause for a moment, preparing ourselves to encounter the Word as living and present to us. If you will, take a deep breath slowly in and slowly out. Come, Lord Jesus. Allow your Holy Spirit to bring your Word to life in me. May I hear your voice, Good Shepherd. Let's enter the Word directly now. We read together from the first letter of John, chapter 1, verses 1 through 4. What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands, concerns the Word of life. For the life was made visible. We have seen it and testified to it, and proclaimed to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us. What we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us. For our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing this so that our joy may be complete. This brief passage of four short verses is dense indeed. It serves as a prologue to the whole epistle, expressing the great themes to be unfolded within. To begin, make no mistake about it, the author is eager, anxious even, to exalt Jesus Christ before the eyes of his readers. What was from the beginning, he says. It's so much like the beginning of John's Gospel, isn't it? We are transported to existence before creation. What was in the beginning? In the beginning, the reality we have encountered in Jesus already was. He was and is eternal life with the Father. Jesus Christ is God. Indeed, as the church will come to express it in her creed, God from God, light from light, true God from true God. But, and this is the true proclamation of our author here, this eternal life, this transcendent God, has been made visible to us. In Jesus we touch, see, hear, look upon the God of all ages. God in Jesus is accessible. We have seen and heard, the author proclaims. Now the consequence of this for us is expressed in that simple word, fellowship. Our fellowship, John tells us, is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. Because of the incarnation, this terrible mystery of such enormity, we now share the life of God. John will return to this reality over and again in this letter. Along with fellowship, he will speak of being in God and to abide with God. Friends, through contact with Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, we have access to God. In Jesus, we can now live in a relationship of intimate, mutual interiority with him and his Father. Now there's one further essential reality found in this passage that I really want to draw out. How do we, living long after the ascension of our Lord to heaven, touch his incarnate reality? John tells us, we proclaim the reality of seeing and touching and hearing Jesus now to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us. It is, friends, through the apostolic preaching that we are given not knowledge, essentially, not words, but experience and encounter with the living Word of God. Jesus is made present to us and us to him. In the proclamation of the gospel, we come to share in the seeing, hearing and touching of the Word of life, Jesus, Son of the Father. In this passage, John proclaims his personal experience of Jesus Christ. God manifests in the humanity of Jesus that we might see and hear Jesus coming to share in his divinity and relationship with the Father. Oh, my friends, there is so much here. Let us turn to a second reading, a second hearing of this precious passage. Let us quiet ourselves again, very intentionally now, become sensitive to what in the passage stirs your heart, your imagination. Maybe a single word, a phrase, or a particular sense you gain as you listen. And so again, we read 1 John chapter 1, verses 1 through 4. What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands, concerns the Word of life. For the life was made visible. We have seen it and testified to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us. What we have seen and heard, we proclaim now to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us. For our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing this so that our joy may be complete. Now the second movement of Lectio Divina, that is meditation. In our hearts and minds, in the deep parts of our spirits, we chew over the Word just received in proclamation. What moves you? What stands out for you? Might I be so bold now as to encourage us to follow closely John in his word to us? As he proclaims what he has seen, heard and touched, allow yourself to be drawn into the presence of the incarnate living Word of God. Set your gaze on Jesus. Come Holy Spirit, hold the eyes of our hearts on the person of Jesus Christ. As we gaze upon Jesus in prayer, move us into the experience, gentle and mysterious, of hearing him, seeing him, touching him. And indeed, friends, as John says at the end of this brief passage we share, it is a joy to share the Gospel with you. The Gospel of John The Gospel of John The Gospel of John The Gospel of John The Gospel of John The Gospel of John The Gospel of John The Gospel of John The Gospel of John The Gospel of John The Gospel of John The Gospel of John The Gospel of John The Gospel of John