The Divine Office : "The Truth" and Notre Dame

May 18, 9:05 AMNorfolk Catholic ExaminerJoseph Speranzella SFO

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 From The Office Of Readings (Matins)

1 John 2:1-11

I am writing this, my children,
to stop you sinning;
but if anyone should sin,
we have our advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ, who is just;
he is the sacrifice that takes our sins away,
and not only ours,
but the whole world’s.
We can be sure that we know God
only by keeping his commandments.
Anyone who says, ‘I know him’,
and does not keep his commandments,
is a liar,
refusing to admit the truth.
But when anyone does obey what he has said,
God’s love comes to perfection in him.
We can be sure that we are in God
only when the one who claims to be living in him
is living the same kind of life as Christ lived.
My dear people,
this is not a new commandment that I am writing to tell you,
but an old commandment
that you were given from the beginning,
the original commandment which was the message brought to you.
Yet in another way, what I am writing to you,
and what is being carried out in your lives as it was in his,
is a new commandment;
because the night is over
and the real light is already shining.
Anyone who claims to be in the light
but hates his brother
is still in the dark.
But anyone who loves his brother is living in the light
and need not be afraid of stumbling;
unlike the man who hates his brother and is in the darkness,
not knowing where he is going,
because it is too dark to see.

"Anyone who says, ‘I know him’, and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, refusing to admit the truth."

I hate to say this but it reminds me of Notre Dame!

There are many who claim to know Jesus. It is one thing to say you are Catholic or Christian. It is another to really live it. The situation at Notre Dame is a good example. Claiming a Catholic heritage while being swayed by prestige and power amounts to a certain heresy. The Catholic Bishops of the US spoke to this in 2004 forbidding Catholic institutions from giving platforms to those who are against the teaching of the Church. There is no more public teaching as pro-life and no stronger opponent as Mr. Obama.

There is shame in public acquiescence. The betrayal is reminiscent of St . Peter. And even as he repented and was forgiven so is our hope for the unrepentant institutions and individuals who would compromise the truth.

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