07-30-2013, 11:43 AM
29 July 2013, Monday, 17th Week, Ordinary Time
LIVING A LIFE THAT NEVER DIES REQUIRES RECOGNIZING THE PRIMACY OF GOD’S LOVE OVER THE RESPONSE OF FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1 Jn 4:7-16; 34:5-9, 28; LK 10:38-42; Jn 11:19-27
“Jesus said: ‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who has come into this world.’” Faith in the resurrection does not require faith in Jesus’ divinity.
However, faith in Jesus as the Son of Christ is necessary if we were to believe in a life that never ends. For this is what Jesus promised Martha, “Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’” Jesus comes to give us life now. Jesus is not saying that He has merely come to assure us of a life after death. Rather, He is saying that faith in Him will ensure that life is lived to the fullest here and now.
But what does it mean for a man to live in such a way that he never dies? Death and sickness in John’s gospel are symbols of sin and alienation. To live a life that is eternal means to live a life of love in union with God and with our fellowman. Such a life would be a sharing of the life of God. In death, this life continues, hence we can never die, whether in this life or in the next. This is what John says, “God is love and anyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him.” Indeed, it is the way of love, the way of a clear conscience or, as the Psalmist tells us, a man with clean hands and pure heart, that man finds peace and joy. Yes, John says, “We can know that we are living in him and he is living in us because he lets us share his Spirit.”
But the question is, how can we love like God and share in His spirit? More often than not, we are more like Martha, egoistic even in love and service. Like her, we are more concerned about ourselves. We are worried as to how people view us and thus we seek to impress them. Egoistic service is often masqueraded as love. So in order to love genuinely, the way God loves us, it then presupposes that we understand and experience the unconditional love of God. Without the prior love of God, we cannot love like Him. Hence, John says, “this is the love I mean: not our love for God, but God’s love for us.”
Where is this love concretely found? John tells us, “God’s love for us was revealed when God sent into the world his only Son so that we could have life through him … when he sent his Son to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.” So Jesus is the revelation of the love of God in person. But in order to believe that Jesus is the revelation of God’s love, we must first recognize His divinity. Necessarily, the confession of Jesus as the resurrection and the life is necessary to vindicate His divinity and establish Him as the Life-giver. Without confessing in Jesus’ divinity, then we will not be able to speak of Jesus as the revelation of God’s person in person. Thus the focus is not a life after death. The purpose of John’s gospel is that we might believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, and in believing, we find eternal life. The Passion reveals the depth of God’s love and mercy whereas the resurrection reveals Jesus’ divine Sonship.
Thus, only when we experience the love of God in the person of Jesus, especially in His death and resurrection, then this love is no longer an abstract knowledge but a historical reality. Only such an experience will empower us to love like Him. Consequently, John said, “Since God has loved us so much, we too should love one another … since love comes from God and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Anyone who fails to love can never have known God, because God is love.”
This primacy of God’s love is portrayed in Mary and Martha in the gospel. Mary understood the necessity of experiencing the love of God in person before doing anything. Thus, Mary sat waiting for Jesus. She did not rush out of the funeral wake to welcome Jesus. She knew that the initiative of love must come from Jesus. Indeed, we also know that when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He said, “Come out.” In other words, Lazarus who was dead in sin requires the invitation from God in love before he can respond.
Unfortunately, Martha never learnt her lesson. She was busy as usual and rushed out from the funeral wake in order to confront Jesus who came too late to heal her brother. She was not called but acted on her own.
What is the lesson we can draw from this episode? Namely this; we must be like Mary who was actively open to love. If she continued sitting instead of welcoming Jesus, it was because she knew that even if her brother died, he lived forever. Mary herself was living the life of God, eternal life. She does not make a distinction between this life and the next. She lived as if she would never die and if she died, she knew her life would continue. Martha however, who failed to hear the liberating call of Jesus, placed her trust more on herself than on the love of God.
Yet, today’s celebration is one of hope. We are more like Martha than Mary. Thus, Martha is our hope rather than Mary. It is significant to note that Mary was not accepted as a saint unless this same Mary was Mary Magdalene whose feast we celebrated last Monday. Whatever the case, if the early Church canonized Martha as a saint, it was because she is meant to be our hope. Like her, we will also be able to make the confession of Christ as the Son of God, and as the Resurrection and the Life with conviction one day.
This happens when we discover through grace that it is not we who love God, but God who loves us first. Our task is simply to accept this love. That this love is accepted will be manifested in our unconditional love for others. In this way, the promise of Jesus of sharing in His spirit and life already in this life will be fulfilled. Hence, we live a life that never dies. Through our celebration of the Eucharist, we experience His love coming to us in a real and personal way, when we receive His body and blood made possible by the Incarnation and the Resurrection.
LIVING A LIFE THAT NEVER DIES REQUIRES RECOGNIZING THE PRIMACY OF GOD’S LOVE OVER THE RESPONSE OF FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1 Jn 4:7-16; 34:5-9, 28; LK 10:38-42; Jn 11:19-27
“Jesus said: ‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who has come into this world.’” Faith in the resurrection does not require faith in Jesus’ divinity.
However, faith in Jesus as the Son of Christ is necessary if we were to believe in a life that never ends. For this is what Jesus promised Martha, “Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’” Jesus comes to give us life now. Jesus is not saying that He has merely come to assure us of a life after death. Rather, He is saying that faith in Him will ensure that life is lived to the fullest here and now.
But what does it mean for a man to live in such a way that he never dies? Death and sickness in John’s gospel are symbols of sin and alienation. To live a life that is eternal means to live a life of love in union with God and with our fellowman. Such a life would be a sharing of the life of God. In death, this life continues, hence we can never die, whether in this life or in the next. This is what John says, “God is love and anyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him.” Indeed, it is the way of love, the way of a clear conscience or, as the Psalmist tells us, a man with clean hands and pure heart, that man finds peace and joy. Yes, John says, “We can know that we are living in him and he is living in us because he lets us share his Spirit.”
But the question is, how can we love like God and share in His spirit? More often than not, we are more like Martha, egoistic even in love and service. Like her, we are more concerned about ourselves. We are worried as to how people view us and thus we seek to impress them. Egoistic service is often masqueraded as love. So in order to love genuinely, the way God loves us, it then presupposes that we understand and experience the unconditional love of God. Without the prior love of God, we cannot love like Him. Hence, John says, “this is the love I mean: not our love for God, but God’s love for us.”
Where is this love concretely found? John tells us, “God’s love for us was revealed when God sent into the world his only Son so that we could have life through him … when he sent his Son to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.” So Jesus is the revelation of the love of God in person. But in order to believe that Jesus is the revelation of God’s love, we must first recognize His divinity. Necessarily, the confession of Jesus as the resurrection and the life is necessary to vindicate His divinity and establish Him as the Life-giver. Without confessing in Jesus’ divinity, then we will not be able to speak of Jesus as the revelation of God’s person in person. Thus the focus is not a life after death. The purpose of John’s gospel is that we might believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, and in believing, we find eternal life. The Passion reveals the depth of God’s love and mercy whereas the resurrection reveals Jesus’ divine Sonship.
Thus, only when we experience the love of God in the person of Jesus, especially in His death and resurrection, then this love is no longer an abstract knowledge but a historical reality. Only such an experience will empower us to love like Him. Consequently, John said, “Since God has loved us so much, we too should love one another … since love comes from God and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Anyone who fails to love can never have known God, because God is love.”
This primacy of God’s love is portrayed in Mary and Martha in the gospel. Mary understood the necessity of experiencing the love of God in person before doing anything. Thus, Mary sat waiting for Jesus. She did not rush out of the funeral wake to welcome Jesus. She knew that the initiative of love must come from Jesus. Indeed, we also know that when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He said, “Come out.” In other words, Lazarus who was dead in sin requires the invitation from God in love before he can respond.
Unfortunately, Martha never learnt her lesson. She was busy as usual and rushed out from the funeral wake in order to confront Jesus who came too late to heal her brother. She was not called but acted on her own.
What is the lesson we can draw from this episode? Namely this; we must be like Mary who was actively open to love. If she continued sitting instead of welcoming Jesus, it was because she knew that even if her brother died, he lived forever. Mary herself was living the life of God, eternal life. She does not make a distinction between this life and the next. She lived as if she would never die and if she died, she knew her life would continue. Martha however, who failed to hear the liberating call of Jesus, placed her trust more on herself than on the love of God.
Yet, today’s celebration is one of hope. We are more like Martha than Mary. Thus, Martha is our hope rather than Mary. It is significant to note that Mary was not accepted as a saint unless this same Mary was Mary Magdalene whose feast we celebrated last Monday. Whatever the case, if the early Church canonized Martha as a saint, it was because she is meant to be our hope. Like her, we will also be able to make the confession of Christ as the Son of God, and as the Resurrection and the Life with conviction one day.
This happens when we discover through grace that it is not we who love God, but God who loves us first. Our task is simply to accept this love. That this love is accepted will be manifested in our unconditional love for others. In this way, the promise of Jesus of sharing in His spirit and life already in this life will be fulfilled. Hence, we live a life that never dies. Through our celebration of the Eucharist, we experience His love coming to us in a real and personal way, when we receive His body and blood made possible by the Incarnation and the Resurrection.