How Do We Prove That We Are GOD's Children?

"See what singular love the FATHER has for us: we are called children of GOD, and we really are.  This is why the world does not know us, because it did not know HIM.

Beloved, we are GOD's children, and what we shall has not, yet, been shown.  Yet, when HE appears in HIS glory, we know, that we shall be like HIM, for, then, we shall see HIM as HE is.  All who have such a hope, try to be pure, as HE is pure." - 1 John 3:1-3 

(Here begins the second part of the letter: we are GOD's children and we must live as such.  How do we prove that we are GOD's children?  According to the same criteria that we have already seen: breaking away from sin, keeping the commandment of love, proclaiming our faith.  There are many ways of saying we are GOD's children.  One person might simply think: "GOD loves people" means that human beings have great dignity.  Here John calls our attention to two points:

- you are sons and daughters, but in order to become like GOD, do not seek anything else but to be perfect as GOD is perfect;

- you are children who will return to the FATHER.  Do you really think about the unique and transcendent  end for which GOD has chosen you?  Being aware of this, let us understand that GOD purifies us in a thousand ways, because only in this way can we attain our goal.

We shall be like HIM sharing all that GOD is and somehow becoming GOD with GOD [see 1 Corinthians 13:13].  Those who now bear their lives of suffering with CHRIST will be transfigured like HIM [Mark 9:2-3; Colossians 3:4].  Then the universe will reach its goal, having the children of GOD as its center [Romans 8:19] or better, the New Creature.)

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Be Strong In The LORD

"Finally, be strong in the LORD, with HIS energy and strength.  Put on the whole armor of GOD, to be able to resist the cunning of the devil.  Our battle is not against human forces, but against the rulers and authorities and their dark powers, that govern this world.  We are struggling against the spirits and supernatural forces of evil.

Therefore, put on the whole armor of GOD, that, in the evil day, you may resist, and stand your ground, making use of all your weapons.  Take truth as your belt, justice as your breastplate, and zeal as your shoes, to propagate the gospel of peace.  Always hold in your hand, the shield of faith, to repel the flaming arrows of the devil.  Finally, use the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, that is, the word of GOD.

Pray at all times, as the Spirit inspires you.  Keep watch, together with sustained prayer and supplication for all the holy ones.  Pray, also, for me, so that when I speak, I may be given words, to proclaim bravely, the mystery of the gospel.  Even when in chains, I am an ambassador of GOD; may HE give me the strength to speak as I should." - Ephesians 6:10-20  

(Paul has said what he had to say.  What does his invitation to be strong mean, when he takes his examples from military life?  Is it because he feels the Christians of Ephesus are not sufficiently strong.  Paul invites them, without saying it, to compare their situation with his.  Free or slaves, most of them were people of modest means of the cities near Ephesus.  Subjected for a long time to the Roman Empire that imposed peace on them, they were free of serious problems.  They were not rich, but they were able to content themselves with little.  Under a Mediterranean sky they had abundant light and a friendly, natural environment.  They found the faith at a time when it cost them little; what would they do the day the Empire became an obstacle and when suddenly they would be classed a bad lot, responsible for all that was wrong?

This is why Paul warns them: peace is only provisional, for the demon is waiting for his hour.  Paul asks them to persevere in prayer: the only effective arms against evil are those that CHRIST has left us: truth, faith, the word of GOD... and if they believe they have found salvation, let them exert themselves to evangelize others.)

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Children, Parents, Servants And Masters

"Children, obey your parents for this is right: Honor your father and your mother.  And this is the first commandment that has promise: that you may be happy and enjoy long life in the land.  And you, fathers, do not make rebels of your children, but educate them by correction and instruction which the LORD may inspire.

Servants, obey your masters of this world with fear and respect, with simplicity of heart, as if obeying CHRIST.  Do not serve only when you are watched or in order to please others but become servants of CHRIST who do GOD's will with all your heart.  Work willingly, for the LORD and not for humans, mindful that the good each one has done, whether servant or free, will be rewarded by the LORD.

And you, masters, deal with your servants in the same way, and do not threaten them, since you know that they and you have the same LORD who is in heaven, and HE treats all fairly." - Ephesians 6:1-9  

(Paul reminds children that GOD asks for obedience, and parents that they must not neglect their duty as educators.  Parents have the difficult task of leading their children to true freedom, teaching them first to obey a law, to serve rather than be served, to share rather than demand.  Later, they will show them how to follow the calls of the Spirit, well beyond what is considered good or bad all around them.

Paul reminds the slave of his nobility.  Let him live without servility: this is the first step toward genuine liberation.)  

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Husbands, Love Your Wives

"Let all kinds of submission to one another, become obedience to CHRIST.  So, wives, to their husbands, as to the LORD.

The husband is the head of his wife, as CHRIST is the head of the church, HIS body, of whom HE is also the Savior.  And as the church submits to CHRIST, so let a wife submit in everything to her husband. 

As for you, husbands, love your wives as CHRIST loved the Church and gave HIMSELF up for her.  HE washed her and made her holy by baptism in the Word.  As HE wanted a radiant Church without stain or wrinkle or any blemish, but holy and blameless, HE HIMSELF had to prepare and present her to HIMSELF.

In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they love their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself.  And no one has ever hated his body; he feeds and takes care of it.  That is just what CHRIST does for the Church, because we are members of HIS body.

Scripture says: Because of this a man shall leave his father and mother to be united with his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.  This is a very great mystery, and I refer to CHRIST and the Church.  As for you, let each one love his wife as himself, and let the wife respect her husband." - Ephesians 5:21-33 

(HE gave HIMSELF up for her.  CHRIST finds us in our sins, and HE takes charge of us, even to the ultimate consequences: HE gives HIS life to purify us.  This is the way to show the main quality of Christian love, which is faithfulness.  The self-gift of the spouse is permanent and from that moment on, each will do his best to save the other, that is, to help the other grow and be better.  The perfect couple is not the one that lives without problems and accepts mediocrity, but the two who compel each other to give their best.

HE washed her by the baptism in the Word [see James 1:18-21 and John 15:3].  If the ritual of baptism is important, what is even more important is for us to welcome the Word of GOD that gives us life.

Many young people flee marriage, partly because they fear a risk [total fidelity is indeed a way of losing one's life: Mark 8:35], partly because they consider that their love is their own business.  Paul shows that CHRIST's love for us, however personal it may be, never forgets HIS love for all those who make up HIS body.  It is an example: married Christians are invited to have their place in the transformation of the world through the radiation of their love and their service to others.)

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The True Temple Of GOD

"Now you are no longer strangers or guests, but fellow citizens of the holy people: you are of the household of GOD.  You are the house whose foundations are the apostles and prophets, and whose cornerstone is CHRIST JESUS.  In HIM the whole structure is joined together and rises to be a holy temple in the LORD.  In HIM you too are being built to become the spiritual sanctuary of GOD." - Ephesians 2:19-22   

(You are of the household of GOD.  In Biblical language this means: to belong to GOD's family.  From there, Paul moves on to another image: you are the household, namely, the true temple of GOD.  The community of believers form the temple, or better, is being transformed into the temple of GOD.

The imposing vision of the Church and our unity in the Church will perhaps astonish many Christians today who are usually more aware of their responsibilities towards the world than towards our antiquated Church.  Yet, of what Spirit shall we be bearers, and shall we do this work if we are not supported by a community?  Solidarity with those who share our options and our culture cannot replace participation in the Christian community.  There are probably many things in the Christian community we are not happy with.  However, it would be a bad sign if we were unable to recognize in it the truth that is missing in our non-Christian friends, and without which we would lose our reason for living.)

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The Blind Man Of Jericho

"They came to Jericho.  As JESUS was leaving Jericho with HIS disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar, Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.  On hearing that it was JESUS of Nazareth passing by, he began to call out, 'Son of David, JESUS, have mercy on me!'  Many people scolded him and told him to keep quiet, but he shouted all the louder. 'Son of David, have mercy on me!'

JESUS stopped and said, 'Call him.'  So they called the blind man, saying, 'Take heart!  Get up, HE is calling you!'  He immediately threw aside his cloak, jumped up and went to JESUS.

Then JESUS asked him, 'What do you want ME to do for you?'  The blind man said, 'Master, let me see again!'  And JESUS said to him, 'Go your way, your faith has made you well.'  And, immediately, he could see, and he followed JESUS along the road." - Mark 10:46-52 

(GOD is the one who moves us to ask something of HIM.  The blind man understands that if he lets this opportunity go by, there will not be another chance, which is why he shouts all the more while the rest try to silence him.

Son of David!  was a way of designating the Messiah.)

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The Fig Tree Without Fruit

"One day some persons told JESUS what had occurred in the Temple:  Pilate had Galileans killed and their blood mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.  JESUS replied, 'Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this?  I tell you: no. But unless you change your ways, you will all perish as they did.

And those eighteen persons in Siloah who were crushed when the tower fell, do you think they were more guilty than all the others in Jerusalem?  I tell you: no.  But unless you change your ways, you will all perish as they did.'

And JESUS continued with this story, 'A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard and he came looking for fruit on it but found none.  Then he said to the gardener: 'Look here, for three years now I have been looking for figs on this tree and I have found none.  Cut it down, why should it use up the ground?'  The gardener replied:  'Leave it one more year, so that I may dig around it and add some fertilizer; and perhaps it will bear fruit from now on.  But if it doesn't, you can cut it down'." - Luke 13:1-9  

(In this passage JESUS questions the idea we have of GOD's punishment.  We cannot believe in GOD without believing in justice.  For the Greeks whose gods were capricious and not very honest, justice was a divine power superior to the gods.  We always tend to make ourselves the center of the world and believe we are better than others.  If misfortune falls on someone else, we think it is just, but when it is our turn, we ask:  "What have I done against GOD that this should happen to me?"

The Gospel deals with several aspects of the question.  First of all, let us try to free of a ghetto mentality [see Luke 6:32]:  the evil done by our enemies is not worse than the evil we do.

The justice of GOD goes far beyond our justice and is only really fulfilled in the next life [the case of Lazarus, Luke 16:19]. 

 

The misfortune, which to us here below appears as the "punishment of GOD," is no more than a sign, a pedagogical measure used by GOD to make us aware of our sin.  And GOD often converts a sinner by granting him unexpected favors [see the case of Zaccheus, Luke 19:1].

 

Then why is there so much about GOD's punishment in the Old Testament?  GOD's people did not know yet an afterlife, so it was necessary to speak of GOD's punishment in this life, for these people to believe in HIS justice.  In fact, GOD continues to give such signs both for persons and for communities.  It is good to know how to recognize them, keeping in mind they are not the last word of GOD's justice.)

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We Shall Become The Perfect Creation

"Therefore, I, the prisoner of CHRIST, invite you, to live the vocation you have received.  Be humble, kind, patient, and bear with one another in love.

Make every effort to keep, among you, the unity of spirit, through bonds of peace.  Let there be one body, and one Spirit, just as one hope is the goal of your calling by GOD.  One LORD, one faith, one baptism; one GOD, the FATHER of all, who is above all, and works through all, and is in all." - Ephesians 4:1-6 

 

(Here, Paul returns to an important problem in communities where the style was still very free, we might say very charismatic, since the community counted on the unpredictable action of the Spirit through the charisms of different members.  It is necessary that all in their own vocation work for the building up of the one body.  Paul enthusiastically names all that we have in common through CHRIST and the action of the Spirit.  It is not merely a temple that is constructed [see Chapter 2:19-22]; it is the Body of CHRIST, of the Perfect Man, the mature one, in which CHRIST expresses HIS fullness.)

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I Have Come To Bring Fire Upon The Earth, And How I Wish It Were Already Kindled!

"I have come to bring fire upon the earth and how I wish it were already kindled!  But I have a baptism to undergo and what anguish I feel until it is finished! 

Do you think that I have come to bring peace on earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division.  From now on, in one house five will be divided: three against two, and two against three.  They will be divided, father against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." - Luke 12:49-53 

(I have come to bring fire.  Must we think of fire as referring to something precise such as love, the Gospel or the gift of the Holy Spirit?  It is better to stay with the image of the fire that purifies, burns all that is old, gives warmth and fosters life; fire of the judgment of GOD destroying all that is not surrendered to its reforming action.

JESUS comes to remake the world and to bring the jewels that will remain for eternity out of the rubble.  Those who follow JESUS must participate in this work of salvation, directed at a situation combining work, violence, suffering as well as great dreams wise or mad.

I have a baptism to undergo...  JESUS is the leader and will be the first one to face death as a means of obtaining resurrection.  This step, as "agonizing" for JESUS as it is for us, is the baptism of fire that introduces us into a glorious and eternal life.  It is the true baptism of which the others, baptisms of water and Spirit, are only a preparation.

I have come to bring division.  This is followed by words of JESUS that are so upsetting for those who expect of HIM a peaceful life.  JESUS is a source of division among nations and social groups.  Often people have tried to use religion as cement for national unity or family peace.  It is true that faith is a factor in peace and understanding; but it also separates those who are truly alive from those others, be they relatives or friends, who cannot have all that is now the most important to these true believers.  Many times, the wound and the scandal of this separation are so painful for them, that they turn into our persecutors.

The Gospel does not put this world on the road to an earthly paradise, but it challenges it to grow.  The death of JESUS brings into full light what was hidden in hearts; likewise, it reveals the lies and the violence underlying our societies, just as it revealed those which underlay the Jewish Society of HIS time.) 

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The Son Of Man Will Come At An Hour You Do Not Expect

"Pay attention to this: If the master of the house had known at what time the thief would come, he would not have let his house be broken into.  You also must be ready, for the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.

Peter said, 'LORD, did YOU tell this parable only for us, or for everyone?'  And the LORD replied, 'Imagine, then, the wise and faithful steward whom the master sets over his other servants to give them food rations at the proper time.  Fortunate is this servant if his master on coming home finds him doing his work.  Truly, I say to you, the master will put him in charge of all his property.

But it may be that the steward thinks: 'My Lord delays in coming,' and he begins to abuse the menservants and the servant girls, eating and drinking and getting drunk.  Then the master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he doesn't know.  He will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful.

The servant who knew his master's will, but did not prepare to do what his master wanted, will be punished with sound blows; but the one who did what deserved a punishment without knowing it shall receive fewer blows.  Much will be required of the one who has been given much, and more will be asked of the one entrusted with more." - Luke 12:39-48  

(The Son of Man will come like a thief.  We should not think that this refers only to the day of death, nor should we be afraid of GOD's judgment if we live in HIS grace.  JESUS tells us about the master returning from the wedding, who is so happy that he reverses the usual order and begins to serve his servants.  If we have been serving GOD for years, how could we not reach another phase of spiritual life in which it would seem that GOD is concerned only in giving and feasting with us?

Peter said to HIM.  This new paragraph is aimed at those who hold responsible positions in the Church.

My Lord delays in coming.  Those in responsible positions may betray their mission.  More often, they make the mistake of seeing only to the good functioning of the institution and they forget that CHRIST is coming.

GOD comes all the time through events that, unexpectedly, ruin our plans.  Therefore, the Church must not rely too much on planning its activity: who knows what GOD has in store for us tomorrow?

Instead the Church should see to its prayer and its availability so that the LORD will let her be in the best situation when HE shakes up our little universe.

Be awake to admire, rejoice in and discover the presence of GOD and HIS blessings that enlighten our lives.) 

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