1 Jn 3:11-24
For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, and not be like Cain who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not wonder, brethren, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love remains in death. Any one who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But if any one has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.
The world’s hatred of those who love God and strive to obey Him has been and continues to be a sad chapter in human history. In today’s passage, the Apostle John alludes to the first fratricide. This was followed by many others throughout history, to the point that the Son of Man—who, being God, became the brother of men by assuming their nature—was killed by them. It is something incomprehensible, yet unfortunately, it is a reality that has not ceased.
On a human level, a lack of love can engender rejection and hatred. “Whoever does not love abides in death.” True love for one’s neighbor, on the other hand, means passing from death to life. To keep this love from growing cold, we must cultivate it through prayer, works of mercy, and work in our own hearts, perseveringly presenting to God all that opposes love within us so that He may touch and transform it.
This contribution of ours to the work that the Holy Spirit wants to accomplish in us is indispensable to prevent our hearts from becoming closed and hardened and driving away His delicate presence. If the latter were to happen, rejection of the neighbor could easily arise and turn into hatred. We must not overlook the fact that, in addition to our fallen nature, demons filled with hatred against God and men want to exert influence over us. They always try to reinforce people’s evil inclinations. We must take this into consideration to consciously renounce all their whisperings and manipulations and immediately turn to the Lord.
If we walk vigilantly in the path of following Jesus, we will live in truth and “reassure our hearts before Him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.” This means that we can put our hope in the Lord, even when our heart—and therefore also our feelings or our self-accusations—still condemn us.
We can have even more confidence when we live according to God’s will by keeping His commandments and doing what pleases Him. Then, we will be able to receive whatever we ask of Him.
The commandment we are given is simple: believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another. Everything else follows from this, and by keeping His commandments, we abide in God and God in us. This means that we live in His grace and always have access to Him. Thus, we can constantly receive His love and live in it. In this way, we learn to love as He loves, and brotherly love becomes natural to us. It even extends to all men, called to be part of the communion with God. This is the work of the Holy Spirit within us and, perceiving it, we will know that the Lord is with us.
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Meditation on today’s reading (Feast of the Holy Archangels):
