Follow me January 5

Memorial of Saint John Neumann, bishop

Do not be amazed, (then,) brothers, if the world hates you…Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. I John 3:13,18

“Follow me.” John 1:43

Piety

Jesus, your invitation sounds so easy. But we desperately need your love and support to really love in action, in deed and in truth. Be with us and give us the strength needed for this "harsh and dreadful love."

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/010507.shtml

Jesus is a stalker. He is hunting down the men to be his First Disciples. In today’s reading (and yesterday’s), we learn that these men did not seek out Jesus. Jesus sought them out or others called on them to encounter the living God.

To Andrew and John, Jesus says: “Come and you will see [where I dwell}.”

To Peter, he says, “You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas.”

To Philip, we learn that Jesus decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip.

To Nathanial, Jesus said, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”

We also see the first acts of evangelization by these First Disciples. People start introducing others to Jesus. Andrew goes to introduce his brother to Jesus. Philip calls on Nathaniel.

The retired abbot of the Abbey of Genesee in upstate New York delivered a homily on this reading back in 2002. Abbot John Eudes taught, “Nathaniel's encounter with our Lord is meant to remind each of us that the most hidden thoughts of our heart, the depths of our spirit are open to the God who sends for us through his Son to seek us out. Just as God makes use of Philip to bring Nathaniel to recognize his Son as Savior, so he makes use of the Church and his word to reveal himself to each of us. For he is ingenious in seeking us; he knows where to look, whom to send, what word to speak so as to give us confidence and the light we require to find the One who ever seeks after us.”[1]

Action

How are you answering the Great Invitation? Beyond that, is God trying to make use of you as a member of the Church to call others to friendship with Christ?

Living a life of faith in Jesus and of Christian love assures us of abiding in God no matter what our feelings, conventional wisdom, patriotism, financial advisors, realtors, or others may at times tell us. Our obedience gives us confidence in prayer and trust in God's judgment. This obedience includes our belief in Christ and love for one another (all “one anothers,” not just some or the selected). In his letter, John tells us that the world will hate us if we love our brother. One challenge related to this reading this week is, “Can we love our brother if he has done terrible, horrible things?”

The execution of Saddam Hussein, challenges our Christian love. In a statement from the Vatican, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, said, “A capital execution is always tragic news, reasons for sadness, even if it is about a person who has been guilty of grave crimes. To kill the guilty one is not the way to rebuild justice and to reconcile society. The risk also exists that, on the contrary, the spirit of vengeance will be fueled and new violence be sown.

“In this dark time of the life of the Iraqi people one cannot but hope that all those responsible will make every effort so that in a dramatic situation channels of reconciliation and peace will finally be opened,” Fr. Lombardi added.[2]

How ironic that people are being arrested for taking pictures of the incident and for acting like the Roman soldiers and taunting the condemned man. However, no one is being arrested for murder because this was a state-sanctioned killing.

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[1] http://www.abbotjohneudes.org/h5jan02.htm

[2] http://www.zenit.org/english/