Thursday after the Octave of Christmas, January 5, 2022

John 3, 11-21

Beloved: This is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another, unlike Cain who belonged to the Evil One and slaughtered his brother. Why did he slaughter him? Because his own works were evil, and those of his brother righteous. Do not be amazed, then, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Whoever does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him? Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him in whatever our hearts condemn, for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God.

St. John continues laying out his theology of love in his First Letter.  While the Church could use these readings from this Letter for the time leading up to Good Friday or for the time after Easter, they find fitting use in explaining to us what brought the Son of God down from heaven in the first place.  Unless we understand that, Good Friday and Easter — and his whole earthly life — make little sense.  By meditating on the Lord’s love for us at the beginning of his like on earth and following it through to his Resurrection, we can grow in our knowledge and love of him.

“This is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another, unlike Cain who belonged to the Evil One and slaughtered his brother.”  John’s words recall Judas, who killed his “brother”, his fellow Jew and his close companion, Jesus.  It has long puzzled thoughtful people why Cain killed Abel and why Judas betrayed Jesus.  The Scriptures do not provide many clues.  “Why did he slaughter him? Because his own works were evil, and those of his brother righteous.”  John’s answer helps a little.  The reason why these motivations are hard to parse is that we fail to see evil for what it is, and we do this out of fear.  Evil destroys and seeks persons to destroy.  Destruction is its reason for existing.  It does nothing else but destroy.  We get glimpses of its horror in the accounts of exorcisms in the Gospels.  Cain killed his brother because he hated him.  The opportunity arose at the time of the sacrifices.  Judas betrayed Jesus because he hated him.  Only one who hates betrays with a kiss — it is the ultimate sign of contempt.  Finally, St. Matthew gives us this insight: speaking of Pilate, he commented, “He knew that for envy they had delivered him” (Matthew 27, 18).  The word translated here as “envy” has the primary meaning of “hatred”.  John has a point for bringing up the subject of hatred: “Do not be amazed, then, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.”  In fact, this hatred is a good sign that they are living the life of Jesus Christ.  As John quoted Jesus in his Gospel: “If the world hate you, know ye that it has hated me before you” (John 15, 18).  

“Whoever does not love remains in death.”  The love to which we are called is a supernatural gift which we receive in baptism, and which is strengthened through its practice and through the graces we receive in the other sacraments.  To refuse baptism and the grace of God is to choose to “remain in death”, which that person will inherit.

“The way we came to know love was that he [Jesus] laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”  We possess love through the gift of God; we know love through the crucifix.  When we can see love, we learn how to love so that love does not decay into a mere disposition or feeling but becomes an action that transforms what it touches.  Through acts of love, which always come at a cost to us, we present the crucifix in living form to those who would otherwise go out of their way to avoid seeing it.  John also lays down how we can know what we are to do: “Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God.”  That is, we follow our well-formed consciences.  We form them through the study of the Lord’s life and teachings.  We meditate on his virtues and seek how we may imitate them.  We also consider the lives of the saints.  In this way, through love, we grow closer to the Lord Jesus and bring others to him.