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Second Sunday of Easter Second Reading: 1 John 5: 1-6
St John wrote his letters at the end of his very long life. They were written for a community that was rapidly disintegrating and followers questioned and dissented and left to follow other paths. John could have given way to disillusionment but instead writes letters which take people back to the basic premise that God is love and we are called to live in faithfulness to that love. Not that this makes John’s writing easy to follow! It can take several readings to understand what he is trying to express. This may be seen as a weakness - but has its roots in the fact that John was a mystic who was trying to express what he knew at a level far beyond words. He wants to convey the fullness of his experience - but words are inadequate vehicles with which to do this... as today’s reading shows.
When reading John, it pays to read for “feel” - that is, to begin by reading the whole passage and trying to work out what feelings you are left with - even if that is only confusion!
Read it again more slowly and see which words stand out for you. In this passage it may be commandment - or begotten by God - or victory - overcome - and so on.
Stay with the word for a while - why did John choose it? (or its Greek equivalent). What message was he trying to get across to his disciples - and to us?
How would the word(s) have encouraged people to stay faithful - to the community - and to God?
Then, try to work out how you might use one or two of the ideas and explain them to someone else. You will not be able to sum them up - or put them into a neat sentence - John’s writing does not lend itself to that! But you will get the essence of an idea on which to reflect.
What is
amazing is that, each time you come to a passage, you will
find that the words and ideas are different. This is part of
the extraordinary power of Scripture.
What does this mean for me?
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