Homily
Christmas Weekday
Optional Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Jesus
3 January 2012
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas
Daily Readings
St. John tells us something remarkable about sin. Sin is the commission of evil or the omission of good by the will of a person who can and should do better. Yet St. John gives us a deeper, spiritual and relational concept of sin. Sin is the lack of the presence of Jesus. In Jesus, whose name means salvation from sin, there is no sin. Therefore, sin exists wherever he does not, and vice versa. That is why John is able to say that anyone who remains in sin has neither seen him nor known him.
These words might seem discouraging to those of us who live a confusing mix of trying to have a sincere relationship with Jesus while at the same time still being sinners. What St. John says might seem to be too black and white, in or out, saved or not saved. Our human experience can be different. We experience salvation not only as a once and for all but something that must be reclaimed and relived every day. Most of us live not in the either/or but in the both/and category.
Yet what St. John tells us should not be discouraging, but tremendously encouraging. He simply tells us that the victory over sin belongs to Jesus, not to us, and that it will be accomplished in us more by Christ acting in us, with us, and through us, that by anything we could do. That is why surrendering to the reality and power of his love and grace, made present whenever we call upon his holy name, is the surest path to holiness, more sure than any self-improvement plan we might have in the new year. Make it your pledge to call upon his holy name, especially in times of temptation and doubt, for his name, as the Catechism says, is the only name that makes present the reality that it signifies. Amen.
Christmas Weekday
Optional Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Jesus
3 January 2012
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas
Daily Readings
These words might seem discouraging to those of us who live a confusing mix of trying to have a sincere relationship with Jesus while at the same time still being sinners. What St. John says might seem to be too black and white, in or out, saved or not saved. Our human experience can be different. We experience salvation not only as a once and for all but something that must be reclaimed and relived every day. Most of us live not in the either/or but in the both/and category.
Yet what St. John tells us should not be discouraging, but tremendously encouraging. He simply tells us that the victory over sin belongs to Jesus, not to us, and that it will be accomplished in us more by Christ acting in us, with us, and through us, that by anything we could do. That is why surrendering to the reality and power of his love and grace, made present whenever we call upon his holy name, is the surest path to holiness, more sure than any self-improvement plan we might have in the new year. Make it your pledge to call upon his holy name, especially in times of temptation and doubt, for his name, as the Catechism says, is the only name that makes present the reality that it signifies. Amen.
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