word of life, feb 2013
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Word
of
Life
February2013
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«We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the
brothers and sisters.» (1 Jn 3:14)
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John is writing to the
Christian communities he founded at
a moment when they
were having serious
difficulties.
John is writing to the
Christian communities he founded at
a moment when they
were having serious
difficulties.
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Heresies and false doctrines on matters of faith and morals were starting to spread, while the
pagan society where Christians lived was tough and hostile to the spirit of the Gospel.
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To help them the Apostle points out a radical solution: to love the brothers and sisters, to
live the law of love they have received from the beginning, which he sees as the summary of all
the other commandments.
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Doing this, they will know what ‘life’ is.
They will be led, that is, deeper and
deeper into union with God and will expe rience God-
Love. And, having this experience, they will be confirmed in faith and be capable of facing any attack, especially in times of
crisis.
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«We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the
brothers and sisters.»
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‘We know...’ The Apostle is
referring to a knowledge that
comes from expe rience. It’s like saying: ‘We’ve experienced it,
we’ve touched it with our hands.’
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It’s the experience that the Christians
evangelized by John had at the beginning of their conversion. When we put God's commandments into
practice, in particular the commandment of
love for others, we enter the very life of
God.
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But do Christians today have this experience? They certainly know that God's commandments
have a practical purpose. Jesus constantly insists that it’s not enough to listen to the
Word of God; it must be lived.
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Instead, what’s not clear to most, either because they don’t know about it
or because their knowledge is purely theoretical without
having had the experience, is the
marvellous feature of the Christian life the Apostle puts into light. When we
live out the commandment of love,
God takes possession of us, and an unmistakeable
sign of this is that life, that peace, that joy he
gives us to taste already on earth.
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Then everything is lit up, everything becomes harmonious. No longer is there any separa tion between faith and life. Faith becomes the force pervading and
linking all our actions.
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«We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the
brothers and sisters.»
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This word of life tells us that love for our neighbour is the royal road leading
us to God.
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Since we are all his children, nothing is more important to him than our love for our
brothers and sisters. We cannot give him any greater joy than when we love our
brothers and sisters.
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And since love of neighbour brings us union with God, it is an inexhaustible wellspring of inner light, it is a fountain of life, of spiritual
fruit fulness, of continual renewal.
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It prevents the rot, rigidity and slackness that can set in among the Christian people; in
a word, we pass ‘from death to life’.
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When, in stead, love is lacking, every thing withers and dies. Knowing this, we can under stand why certain attitudes are so widespread
in today's world: a lack of enthusiasm and ideals, mediocrity, boredom, longing to escape,
loss of values, and so on.
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«We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the
brothers and sisters.»
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The brothers and sisters the Apostle refers to here are,
above all, the members of the communities we belong to. If it is
true that we must love everyone, it is equally true that
our love must begin with those who normally live with us, and then reach out to all of
humanity.
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We should think in first place of the members of our family, the people we work with, those
who are part of our parish, religious community or association.
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Our love for our neighbour would not be real and well-ordered if it didn’t start here.
Wherever we find ourselves, we are called to build the family of the children of God.
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«We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the
brothers and sisters.»
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This word of life opens up immense horizons. It urges us along the divine adventure of Christian love with its
unforeseeable outcomes.
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Above all it reminds us that in a world like ours, where the theory is of struggle, the survival of
the fittest, the shrewdest, the most unscrupulous, and where at times everything
seems paralysed by materialism and egoism, the answer we should give is love of neighbour.
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When we live the commandment of
love, in fact, not only is our life energized,
but everything around is affected. It’s like a wave of
divine warmth, which spreads and grows,
penetrating relationships
between one person and another, one
group and another, and bit by bit
transforming society.
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So, let’s go for it! Brothers and sisters to love in the name of Jesus are something we all have, and that we always have. Let’s be faithful to this love. Let’s help many others be so. We will know in our soul what union with God means. Faith will revive,
doubts disappear, no more will we know what boredom is. Life will be full, very, very full.
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«We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the
brothers and sisters.» (1 Jn 3:14)
Text by Chiara LubichText by Chiara Lubich