January 2, 2014

Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church
Lectionary: 205
Reading 1 1 JN 2:22-28

Beloved:
Who is the liar?

In my opinion, this should be capitalized.  Not to show any sort of undue respect. But simply for the sake of grammar.  In other words  It should say, "Who is the Liar?" Because I believe this is a reference to the father of lies, Satan.

Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ.

Whoever denies that Jesus is the Messiah and Christ, is doing it under the influence of Satan. In another place in Scripture, the apostle says, "no one says that Jesus is Lord except by the inspiration of the holy spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3)."

Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist.

The Antichrist is Satan. But in another sense, the antichrist is Satan moving in the world. The antichrist wants nothing better than to have us all reject God.

Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father,

What does it mean, "reject the Son"? It means to disobey the word of God. It means to disobey the Commandments. In another case, Jesus says, "if you love me keep my commandments (John 14:21-23)."

but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.

No one comes to the Father except through the Son. No one comes to the Father except by obedience to the word of God, by keeping the commandments. The word of God and the Commandments are figures of Jesus Christ. Whatever disobeys the word of God or the Commandments disobeys the son of God who embodies the will of God.

Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you.
If what you heard from the beginning remains in you,
then you will remain in the Son and in the Father.

What is it then we heard from the beginning? The Commandments. From the beginning, Moses preached obedience to the commandments of God.

And this is the promise that he made us: eternal life.
I write you these things about those who would deceive you.
As for you,
the anointing that you received from him remains in you,
so that you do not need anyone to teach you.
But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false;
just as it taught you, remain in him.

What is this anointing? It is the baptism of the Holy Spirit which is apportioned to us in the sacraments. In some cases, as in the case of the priest, it is the laying on of hands of the Presbytery which passes on to them a special grace for teaching the word of God.

And now, children, remain in him,
so that when he appears we may have confidence
and not be put to shame by him at his coming.

How do we remain in him? We remain in him by doing good with patience enduring to the end. We remain in him by consuming his body and blood and the holy Eucharist. We remain in him by being joined to his church, his body, in the mass. We remain in him by glorifying God and keeping his commandments.

Responsorial Psalm PS 98:1, 2-3AB, 3CD-4

R. (3cd) All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.

R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.

R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

Praise God! All of you who believe in God, praise God! Let everyone see the reasons for your faith and hope in the salvation of our souls! Let everyone see what God has done your life.

Gospel JN 1:19-28

This is the testimony of John.

This is the testimony of  St. John the Baptist. St. John the apostle and evangelist here records the words of John the Baptist.  St. John the evangelist, was a disciple of  St. John the Baptist before he came to Jesus Christ. And he came to Jesus Christ because of the preaching of  St. John the Baptist. This is the testimony he is revealing

When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him
to ask him, “Who are you?”
He admitted and did not deny it, but admitted,
“I am not the Christ.”
So they asked him,
“What are you then? Are you Elijah?”
And he said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
So they said to him,
“Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us?
What do you have to say for yourself?”
He said:
“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’
as Isaiah the prophet said.”

Faithful Jews were expecting the Messiah. When they heard of John the Baptist they hurried to find out if he was the Messiah. But he told the truth and informed them that he was the coming of Elijah, the precursor, who was preparing the way for the Messiah.

Some Pharisees were also sent.
They asked him,
“Why then do you baptize
if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?”
John answered them,
“I baptize with water;
but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,
the one who is coming after me,
whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
This happened in Bethany across the Jordan,
where John was baptizing.

The Pharisees also came to inquire of John. But they were trying to disprove his authority. One of the questions is intriguing. They asked, "why do you baptize if you are neither the Christ nor Elijah nor the prophet?" I can't find anything in the Old Testament about a prophecy that Christ or the precursor would come baptizing. So, I wonder if, there was an Old Testament tradition to this effect?