First John Day Seven

The speaker shares the joy of spreading the Gospel and encourages listeners to reflect on the mystery of the Incarnation. They read from the first letter of John, emphasizing the importance of righteousness and the destruction of evil. The speaker discusses the concept of God's seed within believers, which represents the Holy Spirit and the potential for growth and maturity in one's faith. They explain that this growth is nurtured through embracing the word of God, obeying His commands, and cultivating love for others. The speaker encourages listeners to meditate on the scripture and surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit for spiritual growth. Greetings, friends. What a joy to share the Gospel. As we continue to live with the graces of this Christmas season, we do so by prayerfully pondering together the mystery of the Incarnation, that radiant center of the Gospel, in the light of St. John's 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 into the Word. We read together from the first letter of John, chapter 3, verses 7 through 10. Children, let no one deceive you. The person who acts in righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. Whoever sins belongs to the devil, because the devil has sinned from the beginning. Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is begotten by God commits sin, because God's seed remains in him. He cannot sin, because he is begotten by God. In this way, the children of God and the children of the devil are made plain. No one who fails to act in righteousness belongs to God, nor anyone who does not love his brother. Father Rudolf Schnakenberg, reflecting on this passage, says so powerfully, that Christians have an ultimate ground of being. Their existence is supernatural, for God's seed abides in them. God's seed. I want us to reflect on that today. This seed clearly refers to the anointing we have already reflected on from earlier in the letter. As we shared then, this anointing is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Blessed Trinity. The anointing, the Holy Spirit, in fact, is the ground for that supernatural existence that Father Schnakenberg speaks about. But that word seed is so illuminative. It says so much. Notice, will you, that it is most essentially an organic metaphor. It speaks of something that grows. It highlights the essential nature of the walking in the light that St. John so insists upon as a reality that grows, that matures over the course of one's life. For one thing, this makes clear that perfection cannot be expected from the get-go. Though, and this is crucial, the whole of the life of a plant is already present in the seed, it is not yet fully developed there. It doesn't yet bear the fruit it is destined to bear. We have, through faith and baptism, the fullness of divine life within us. We have, after all, the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. And yet, this divine reality must grow, mature in us, so as to bear fruit, and in particular, the fruit of love that John insists on for our brothers and sisters. The question becomes then, doesn't it, how do we cooperate in and nurture the growth of this seed, this divine life? St. John has already answered this for us, hasn't he? First of all, it begins to grow in us when we embrace the apostolic preaching, the word of Jesus incarnate, in which we see, hear, and touch God made visible. Leaning into the word of God, prayerfully pondering the word, day by day by day, enables that seed to grow from the light of God's word. Then, by obeying God's commands, in particular, that command to love one another as God has loved, in this, this love, our fellowship, our communion in divine life grows and abides more and more deeply within us. Once again, friends, we turn to the word of God. The anointing of God is carried upon the word, and is, if you will, the rain, the fertilizing nourishment for the seed of life in us. We read again from the first letter of John, chapter 3, verses 7 through 10. Children, let no one deceive you. The person who acts in righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous. Whoever sins belongs to the devil, because the devil has sinned from the beginning. Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is begotten by God commits sin because God's seed remains in him. He cannot sin because he is begotten by God. In this way, the children of God and the children of the devil are made plain. No one who fails to act in righteousness belongs to God, nor anyone who does not love his brother. Let me encourage you again, my friends, to sit with this word, and especially with that image of a seed. You know that a seed is planted. It is cared for, watered, and given light for sure. Still, it has its growth from within itself under its own inherent energies. Let us surrender again to the work of the anointing that is that inherent energy for growth for this divine seed of life. Come, Holy Spirit, bring God's light and love to life in me. And friends, it is a joy to share the gospel with you. Amen.