Who’s your daddy?

Yesterday’s first reading (1 John 2:29-3:6) gave us this wonderful affirmation:

See what love the Father has bestowed on us
that we may be called the children of God.
Yet so we are.

But in the very next passage, which we hear in today’s first reading (1 John 3:7-10), frightening doubts are raised about our paternity.

No one who is begotten by God commits sin,
because God’s seed remains in him;
he cannot sin because he is begotten by God.
In this way,
the children of God
and the children of the Devil
are made plain...

The obvious problem is that you and I are sinners.

So, who is our father?

We need to be careful. The devil lies, of course, and he would love us to think that one sin makes us demons.

That is certainly NOT what Saint John is saying. Indeed, he made things quite clear in the previous chapter (2:1-2):

I am writing this to you
so that you may not commit sin.

But if anyone does sin,
we have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous one.

He is expiation for our sins,
and not for our sins only
but for those of the whole world.

In today’s reading, Saint John is continuing to encourage us to avoid sin by reminding us that sinful actions align us with the devil while alignment with God keeps us from sin.

Thus we need to redouble our efforts to avoid sin, opening ourselves more and more to God’s grace and love and focusing more on acting in righteousness and on loving our sisters and brothers.

We must not despair and give in to the Devil, but rather we must call constantly upon our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for he is the Righteous One and our Advocate, enabling us to be called Children of God even when we fall short.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, be merciful to me – a sinner.