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Wednesday after Epiphany
I John 4:11-18
Psalm 72: 1-2, 10, 12-13
Mark 6: 45-52
Summary
Together, all three of these readings exemplify the ways we are loved and in turn
can love others. The readings lead us right down to the essence of love from
God, love with us in Emanuel, and love for others.
Reflection
In 1 John, the apostle declares that it wasn’t the people’s love for God that
brought Jesus into their lives, but that God’s love for the people was so deep
that he sent his son to help us. John insists that because of that overwhelming
grace, we are in turn obliged to love one another, saying “If we love one another
God remains in us and his love is brought to perfection in us.” But he then adds:
“This is how we know we remain him and he in us, that he has given us of his
spirit.”
I, for one, struggle with the idea of the Holy Spirit. I have been praying for a lot of
years, and always prayed to God. Having become a Catholic in 2010, I am com-
ing to be closer to Jesus as a living being. When things begin to look challeng-
ing, I pray to him. It feels more intimate. Perhaps that is what the Holy Spirit is in
me – God remaining in me, as John says. But there’s a caveat – just before he
says this, he first says
“No one has ever seen
God. Yet, if we love one
another” THEN we re-
main in him, and he in
us.” What better way to
remain in him than to be
living with God’s deep-
est spirit right inside
you!