John Janaro's Blog, page 105

In Violent Times, Christina Grimmie Shows Something "Greater"

Now it's four YEARS and seven months. But we love her more than ever!

THEOPHANY: The Dove, The Father's Voice, The "Beloved Son"

We rejoice and are filled with wonder on this great and glorious feast day! 

The Christmas season culminates in the celebration of "the Baptism of Jesus," known in the early Church (and still in the Byzantine tradition) as the "Theophany." If we reflect on the icon here, we can understand better the significance of the event of Jesus's public participation in the "purification ritual" of John the Baptist, as recorded in the Gospels.

The emphasis is the mystery of the Trinity revealed, as the Spirit descends upon Jesus in the form of a dove and the Father's voice is heard ("theophany" is the "appearance of God"). 

Jesus is immersed in the waters, not for his own purification (he doesn't need it, obviously) but to consecrate the waters of the world by contact with his body and to begin the restoration of all creation as the New Adam. Jesus is naked (sometimes, as here, portrayed with a loincloth), which symbolizes the restoration of Adam's innocence before the Fall. Strange beasts and humanish forms under his feet symbolize the demons defeated by Jesus. John the Baptist gazes not at Jesus but at the Holy Spirit, corresponding to his own testimony in John 1:32-34. Angels wait upon the shore in adoration and readiness to serve Jesus who is the Lord of all creation. 

This is just a very brief reading of the icon. As we reflect on this symbolism, let us not be led to think that this is nothing more than a clever and imaginative mythological story. This imagery conveys the truth about a real event that happened to a real man, Jesus. He is revealed as the Father's Son, annointed by the Holy Spirit. These signs point to the opening up of God's Trinitarian Love to us, the Love that transforms us and brings all creation to its fulfillment.

"This is my beloved Son..." The voice of the Father singles out Jesus, and identifies Him in relation to human destiny. This man Jesus is the answer to the human search for the Mystery that sustains everything and gives ultimate meaning to life. God has answered the question of our hearts by entering our history as a man, giving His life to us, and accompanying us on the journey to our destiny, to live in the glory of His love forever. 

Christians receive the sacrament of baptism from Jesus, through His ministers, because God's love for the world and for every human person is not abstract, distant, cold and inaccessible. God has touched us in Jesus, our brother. His love enters our history and changes us. 

Let us therefore be grateful for our baptism, or - for those who do not yet know Him - ardently seek this encounter with the Mystery who heals and saves and brings the heart to fulfillment. Here is the "touch of God" who has come to meet every person on their journey, and who will begin to draw to Himself whoever opens their heart and asks for the truth and beauty of life.

"He Shall Bring Forth Justice to the Nations..."

"Thus says the Lord: Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street. a bruised reed he shall not break, and as moldering wick he shall not quench, until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

"I, the Lord, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness."

~Isaiah 42:1-4

Indeed, God the Father has sent His Son, the Eternal Word, to dwell among us. Joy to the world!

Love (1 John 4:8-16)

Love

(1 John 4:8-16)

Whoever is without love does not know God, 
for God is love.

In this way the love of God 
was revealed to us: 
God sent his only Son into the world 
so that we might have life through him.

In this is love: 
not that we have loved God, 
but that he loved us 
and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, 
we also must love one another. 

No one has ever seen God. 
Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,
and his love is brought to perfection in us.

This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,
that he has given us of his Spirit. 

Moreover, we have seen and testify
that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world. 

Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God remains in him and he in God. 

We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.

God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. 

Strange Days, But "He Will Come, and Life Will Change"

The international celebration of Epiphany this year marked a day of distressing events in my own country, as well as much ongoing suffering in the world. Here in the United States of America, it is a cause of great sorrow and concern to witness the violence that we have nursed for far too long in our hearts pouring out into our streets, and into the Capitol Building in Washington DC to disrupt the special session of Congress that met to formally certify the results of the recent Presidential election.

For all the increase of our material power, our times continue to show how weak and vulnerable we are as human persons. This immense, complex society we have constructed is in reality so fragile.

But Jesus has come to bring the Father's mercy to embrace us in our weakness. Whatever darkness and troubles may lie ahead, He is our hope and strength.

The Year's First "Challenge": Turning 58

January 2, my birthday, turned out to be a beautiful warm sun-and-clouds kind of day. I treated myself to a good long walk this morning. Vistas of the Blue Ridge are everywhere!

I guess I could call the pictures juxtaposed below the "58 Year Challenge" (well, more like "57 Year" because I'm probably one year old in the first picture

The Christmas Octave Ushers in 2021

Today is the “Octave” of Christmas, and is dedicated in a special way to Mary, the Mother of God. “Christmas Day” is celebrated liturgically for eight days, and thus coincides with the end of the solar calendar year and the beginning of the new year. Thus we welcome the year 2021.

Meanwhile the “Christmas Season” continues to Epiphany and after. Keep celebrating the event of Christmas, the miracle of God’s love who has come to dwell with us.⭐️✝️

One Plus One Equals Three (A New Adventure Has Begun)

As this year ends and a new one approaches, it is the appropriate time to confide to this blog the news regarding what promises to be a dominant theme of my reflections in 2021.

To put it more simply and directly: my dear daughter-in-law Emily Janaro is three months pregnant.

Of course, John Paul and Emily have already told all their friends. But I have said very little so far. It's such an awesome reality. It humbles me once again, makes me grateful — so grateful — to be human, and ... well, I feel a bit shy, when it comes down to it.

Sure, we all know how these things "work" — here we are, a family, and John Paul and Emily got married, and they want plenty of kids, and well, ya know ... it's not like rocket science ...

And then, BOOM, there's a "someone," just like that, who is going to be a major part of the rest of our lives!

A new human person has already come into existence. Already, this new person is changing all of us around him or her in ways we never could have constructed from out of ourselves. This child, who right now is only the size of a peach, has already changed our whole family.

My wife and I are grandparents for the first time. Our daughters are aunts. My son and his wife are a father and mother.

Wait, what?? Let me say that again.

Grandparents. What is that like? Plenty of my old friends are grandparents now, so it shouldn't be a big deal... except that none of my friends are me! I am a grandfather. Sure, it doesn't involve much right now besides empathy for "the kids" in this new experience — "the kids" being John Paul and Emily, and especially Emily who has been a trooper through all the first trimester stuff.

Birth is, of course, the grand entrance of the child on the stage of life, and the cutting of the first and most physical of the many "umbilical cords" that nurture the child in the stages of growing up.

Birth is coming around July 2021.

But thanks to technology, this kid has already "Skyped" from inside the womb. They had their first sonogram weeks ago. The still pictures weren't very clear, but the live action and sound were a wonder. There is nothing quite like the first time you see and hear that new heart beating.

This was John Paul's and Emily's Instagram post
announcing the news a couple of weeks ago. 

When Eileen and I saw pictures of this first sonogram, we were amazed because the day is still clear in our memory when we first saw the sonogram and heard the heartbeat of this child's father. 

After the new year, they will have another sonogram, which might reveal whether the child is a "he" or a "she." He or she may acquire a name before birth. Then it's just one more step to Instagram! (just joking

Letting Ourselves Be Loved By God

Pope Francis has preached very powerfully in this Christmas time on God's coming to dwell with us and what His presence means for our lives.

The astonishing revelation that we are loved awakens an unexpected joy in us, and a new sense of responsibility to say "yes" to Love, and to share the joy of love with the whole world.

"True nourishment in life comes from letting ourselves be loved by God and loving others in turn... God always loves us with a greater love than we have for ourselves... Only the love of Jesus can transform our lives, heal our deepest hurts and set us free from the vicious circles of disappointment, anger and constant complaint... Dear sister, dear brother, never be discouraged. Are you tempted to feel you were a mistake? God tells you, ‘No, you are my child.’ Do you have a feeling of failure or inadequacy, the fear that you will never emerge from the dark tunnel of trial? God says to you, ‘Have courage, I am with you' " (Pope Francis).

And today the Pope posted this picture and these words on Instagram (English and Spanish are provided here).

The Joy of Our Redemption

⭐️It’s the FIFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS!⭐️

“Christmas Day” is a great festival that lasts for a whole week, and the season continues into January. The liturgy continues in these days to mark the glorious event of God’s coming to dwell with us. 

Keep celebrating the joy of His birth in your hearts and homes. This is the joy mysteriously at work deep within us, the joy of the redemption of our humanity that is stronger than all our sorrows and frustrations, all our disappointments and regrets, all our sins. 

Let us make room for Him, for His joy, for His inexhaustible love that draws near to each of us with tenderness and “longs for us” to welcome Him into our lives. His presence changes us, saves us, fulfills us and gives meaning to everything. 

We may feel like strangers in a strange world, far from home, perplexed by the brokenness of our lives, estranged from ourselves. But He has come to be with us, and He is our HOPE!

⭐️Merry Christmas.⭐️