The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas – Year A

The first reading is from Saint John’s First Letter, chapter two, and he begins very poignantly by describing how we can be sure that we know Jesus. Have you ever worried about knocking on that door on the last day and hearing Him say, “I do not know you” (cf. Mt 7:23)? As He warned in the Gospel, “They will say, ‘We ate with you, we drank with you, we cast out demons in your name,’ and He will say, ‘Depart from Me, you evildoers; I do not know you’” (cf. Lk 13:26–27).

We do not want to belong to that group of people who appear before the Lord and are unknown by Him, God forbid. And in today’s first reading, Saint John takes up that concern. He says: “Beloved, the way we may be sure that we know Him is to keep His commandments. Whoever says, ‘I know Him,’ but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, the love of God is truly perfected in him. This is the way we know that we are in union with Him. Whoever claims to abide in Him ought to walk just as He walked” (1 Jn 2:3–6).

So, my brothers and sisters, before you I have laid out a list of Jesus’ instructions to us, His commandments. What are His commandments? What are we to follow? What are we to live in order truly to know Jesus?

They can be grouped into eight thematic categories.

The first theme is love of God, total fidelity to the Father. Under this theme we find: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mk 12:30). Jesus also says, “Remain in My love” (Jn 15:9), “Keep My word” (Jn 14:23), and “Believe in the One whom God has sent” (Jn 6:29). Faith in Jesus is part of loving God. He tells us, “Seek first the Kingdom of God” (Mt 6:33), and He commands us to pray always (cf. Lk 18:1).

The second theme is love of neighbour, charity and mercy. Jesus says, “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Mk 12:31), “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34), “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Lk 6:36), “Forgive” (cf. Mt 6:14), “Serve one another” (Gal 5:13), and “Do not judge” (Mt 7:1).

The third theme concerns discipleship and personal conversion. Jesus commands us, “Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:15). This Gospel is the good news that God so loved us that He sent His Son into the world so that whoever believes in Him, lives by His word, and receives Him—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—in the Eucharist will live forever and be raised up on the last day (cf. Jn 3:16; Jn 6:54). He also says, “Deny yourself” (Mt 16:24), “Take up your cross and follow Me” (Mt 16:24), and “Do not be afraid” (Mt 28:10).

The fourth theme is purity of heart and moral integrity. Jesus commands us not to commit adultery (cf. Mt 5:27), not to look lustfully (cf. Mt 5:28), not to divorce one’s spouse (cf. Mt 19:6), and to be pure of heart (cf. Mt 5:8).

The fifth theme is fidelity in marriage and vocation. “What God has joined together, no one must separate” (Mt 19:6), and Jesus calls us to be faithful in our commitments (cf. Lk 16:10).

The sixth theme is life in Christ, abiding and imitation. Jesus says, “Remain in Me” (Jn 15:4), “Keep My word” (Jn 14:23), “Walk as I walked” (cf. 1 Jn 2:6), and “Do this in memory of Me” (Lk 22:19), referring to the Eucharist, in which we receive His real Presence under the appearance of bread and wine (cf. Jn 6:51).

The seventh theme is watchfulness and perseverance. Jesus commands us, “Keep watch” (Mt 24:42) and “Stay awake” (Mk 13:37).

The eighth theme is mission and witness. “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). All of us have been given the task of evangelization.

Finally, in today’s Gospel, we see the beautiful episode of our Lord being presented in the Temple by Our Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph, His parents, in accordance with the law (cf. Lk 2:22). Not that Jesus needed purification, but He allowed Himself to undergo all things in His true human nature as a model of obedience and fidelity to God’s law (cf. Gal 4:4).

Our Blessed Mother is greeted by Simeon, who says to her that suffering awaits: “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted—and you yourself a sword will pierce” (Lk 2:34–35). He tells her this so that she may prepare her heart for Good Friday.

Mary passed through the battlefield of spiritual combat. She did not flee. She held onto her Son, collaborated with God’s plan, and supported Jesus in fulfilling His vocation as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (cf. Jn 1:29).

And so we must ask ourselves: do we make it easier for one another to fulfill the vocation God has given us—whether marriage, consecrated life, or single life lived for Christ? Do we pray together, fast together, read Scripture together, and ponder the works of the Lord in our hearts, sharing the good He is doing in our lives (cf. Lk 2:19)?

Be of heart, my brothers and sisters. The Lord born unto us has given us many gifts, one of the greatest being His own Mother, who forms us according to His word and His commandments, so that we too may be sure that we know Jesus through her intercession.

May Almighty God bless you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.