What’s the Point?

“There is no fear in love,
but perfect love drives out fear
because fear has to do with punishment,
and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.”

1 John 4:18

We are told that perfect love casts out all fear, and that is what Jesus has come to give to us: perfect love. St. John writes there is no fear in love because fear is correlated with punishment. This is not saying that there are no consequences for our actions or non-actions. I’ve heard some people say that sin no longer exists because Jesus already took away all our sins on the Cross. This is an errant understanding. With Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross sin and death were definitively defeated and conquered, but there is still action needed on our part. Will we choose to receive the gift of salvation, and if we do, we must continue to carry our crosses and follow Jesus. Sin and death were conquered, but its effects remain. Our personal sins exist and remain. And we must do our best to avoid sin and it is this perfect love that enables us to do so. 

In the Gospel of Mark, after the feeding of the multitudes, we are presented with the narrative of Jesus walking on water. We are told that when the disciples saw Jesus walking on water, they were afraid because they thought it was a ghost. Jesus assured them that it was Him and to not be afraid. Here we can see how fear settled in the hearts of the disciples rather than faith and trust in the Lord. This is the reality of discipleship. It is a journey, and sometimes we will waver, and that is okay. That’s the whole point of our faith. Our faith will be tested, but the question is how will we respond. Sometimes we will be afraid like the disciples on the boat, and sometimes will be like the Apostles after the Resurrection who spread the Gospel even in the face of persecution. It is only with God’s perfect love will our journey of faith have meaning. 

When we are so consumed with love, we will not fear and will not be afraid of punishment, because we know that nothing and no one can kill the soul. Today we celebrate the memorial of St. John Neumann, and for the Church in Philadelphia it is a special day because St. John Neumann was our fourth Bishop. During that time, the Church in Philadelphia was going through a difficult time with conflicts within the Church and also anti-Catholic riots and sentiments. And so, St. John Neumann wrote to the Pope asking to be replaced. Yet the Pope insisted he stay, and so he did. Although conflict and hate surrounded him, St. John Neumann allowed the love of Christ to cast out those fears. During his tenure as Bishop, St. John Neumann organized the first ever diocesan school system with the desire to instill in the minds and hearts of children at a young age the truth that God loves them. St. John Neumann allowed the perfect love of God to work in him and through him for the faithful and for the greater glory of God. In love there is no fear, and so as Christians we need no fear of the world or of the enemy, because Christ who is Love lives within us.

What is Love?

“In this is love:
not that we have loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.”

1 John 4:10

It is God who has first loved us, and any loving we give back or give to others is our response to the gift of God’s love. In others word, God’s love is the First Love, and He is Love itself. St. John tells us that God loves us so much that He sent His only Son so that we might be saved from our sins. Love leads to action and oftentimes that action leads to sacrifice, but it doesn’t end there. Because sacrifice leads to life.

As Christians, as people who have come to receive God’s love, how has our response been? Have our lives been indicative of receiving such love? Do our words and actions bring others to God and God to others? How do we handle the difficulties of life? Do we give up or do we embrace the challenges and unite our suffering with Jesus’ suffering on the Cross? Mother Teresa often said that when we are truly loving, it will hurt, but this hurt then transforms into love. Perhaps that is what kept Our Lord going as He suffered to the Cross and on the Cross. He loved us so much that He was willing to suffer and die, and this suffering and this death on the Cross became the greatest expression of Love and the means of our salvation.

So, what is love? Love is doing and wanting what is good for others, even if it costs us something. But some may say why would you do something for someone, and maybe someone you don’t even know that well, even if it means you might lose something? We love and do such things because that is what God did for us. We do so also because when we are so filled with and moved by love there is nothing that we would want to do more than to love, even if it means sacrifice. When we think about it, really, when we truly do something out of love for someone, there will always be some element of sacrifice. We can see this little sacrifice as our offering to the Lord on the Cross. Our little sacrifice is the fruit of our carrying of the cross, and Jesus promised that whoever carries his cross and follows Him will have eternal life.

So, brothers and sisters, don’t be afraid to receive God’s love and don’t be afraid to love others with this love because what comes out of it is life and love. Today may we embrace the First Love and allow Him to use us to bring this Love to others.

from The Crucifixion, c. 1450, Dreux Budé Master

Testing the Spirits

“Beloved, do not trust every spirit
but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

1 John 4:1

In his letter, St. John tells the people to not trust every spirit but rather to test them. As Christians we are familiar with the term “spirit.” We speak of the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. We also read in Genesis that God breathed into man the very breath or spirit of life — His own Spirit. But we also need to know that there are spirits that are not from God; there are evil and bad spirits. So, how do we test the spirits?

St. John tells us that if the spirit acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh then it belongs to God, but if it does not, then it does not belong to God. In other words what do these spirits do within our hearts? Do they lead us towards faith or do they lead us towards distrust in God? Do they lead us towards hope or do they lead us towards despair and shame? Do they lead us towards love or do they lead us towards selfishness and hate? If the spirit leads us to God and moves us to do what the Lord has commanded of us then it is from God. And if we come to discern that there are spirits that do not lead us towards God then we must reject them, literally. If there is a spirit within you that makes you feel, “I am not worthy of love,” it is not from God, and so you must say out loud, “I reject the lie and spirit that tells me I am unworthy of love!” We must test the spirits and reject and denounce them if necessary.

Over time we will know if those spirits were truly from God by the fruits that will have been produced. In the meantime we must continue to pray for the grace of a discerning heart so that we might come to embrace the Spirit of God and denounce the spirit of the Enemy.