Reflection on Today's Readings, Saturday, Christmastime Time, and the Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, January 2nd, 2021
Texts: 1 John 2:22-28; Ps. 98:1-4; John 1:19-28
we are reminded, today, to uphold the eighth commandment, which goes thus: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour." The Church says, "The eighth commandment forbids misrepresenting the truth in our Relations to others. This moral prescription flows from the vocation of the holy people to bear witness to their God who is the truth and wills the truth. Offenses against the truth express by word or deed a refusal to commit oneself to moral uprightness: they are fundamental infidelities to God and, in this sense, they undermine the foundations of the covenant" (CCC no. 2464).
St. John, in today's first reading, calls the antichrist liar, one who lies or spread lies. He says, "Beloved: Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son." Lying is a deliberate attempt to hide the truth to the detriment of one who is lied to. This brings to mind the words of Jesus: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy" (John 10:10). The antichrists are among us as thieves, spreading lies. They are among us to perpetrate the works of their father, the devil: to steal, to kill and to destroy. The Church says, "A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving. The Lord denounces lying as the work of the devil: You are of your father the devil, ... there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (CCC no. 2482)
St. John tells us about the denial of Christ to Jesus. This means He is not the one sent by God to save us. In other words, He is not the anointed of God meant to save us. Though he might have displayed some extraordinary qualities, He cannot give salvation. This kind of teaching renders our faith in Jesus useless and foolish. It means we have false hope in Him; the resurrection and eternal life promised in Him are false. Such teaching attempts at turning people away from Jesus. Hence, St. John says, "Let what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us, eternal life." The solution he provides, here, is that by standing firm on the gospel preached to us, we will overcome the false teaching and so enjoy the communion of the Son and of the Father. He also reminds us that it is our faith in the Son that unites us to the Father. He says, "Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also."
St. John tells us, today, not to yield to lie. The Church says, "To lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead someone into error" (CCC no. 2483). Lie is to be condemned because it is an offense against the truth. The Church puts it thus: "By its very nature, lying is to be condemned. It is a profanation of speech, whereas the purpose of speech is to communicate known truth to others. The deliberate intention of leading a neighbour into error by saying things contrary to the truth constitutes a failure in justice and charity. The culpability is greater when the intention of deceiving entails the risk of deadly consequences for those who are led astray. Since it violates the virtue of truthfulness, a lie does real violence to another. It affects his ability to know, which is a condition of every judgement and decision. It contains the seed of discord and all consequent evils. Lying is destructive of society; it undermines trust among men and tears apart the fabric of social relationships" (CCC no. 2485-2486).
Today's gospel reading presents John the Baptist as a faithful witness, he did not deny that he was not the Christ. It is said, "He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, 'I am not the Christ."
John was a humble man and so he could say the truth, not minding his own ego. Humility is key to saying the truth. Let us embrace humility that we may be able to say the truth and so bear true witness to Jesus.
Lord our God, help us by your grace that we may be humble so that we will say the truth and bear true witness to your Son. Amen.
Fr. Andrew Olowomuke
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