1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 1:2 He was in the beginning with God; 1:3 all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 1:7 He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. 1:8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. 1:9 The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. 1:11 He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. 1:12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; 1:13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. 1:15 (John bore witness to him, and cried, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.'") 1:16And from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace. 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known. One of the top motivating factors I converted to Catholicism is I came to love how Catholics read the Bible. The Catholic approach toward the Bible, returned the poetic to me. Returned comprehensive, context and continuity (historical context and internal continuity of message) so that it is in unity of message and meaning. Mostly, the Catholic approach to reading Scripture returned Jesus Christ to the text (the whole of the text... Old and New Testament). Learning all the places where Christ is prefigured through signs and literary "types" in the Old Testament looking toward fulfillment and continuity in the New Testament. This appeals to me greatly.
Simply stated: The Catholic approach to reading the Bible returned and amplified the shocking beauty and truth to me of my favorite book, The Gospel According to John.
There is a simple, yet complex formula applied to the reading and exegesis of Scripture: Literal & Spiritual simultaneously; with the Spiritual sense having three subsections (Allegorical, Moral, and Analogically).
Consider those concepts for a minute: the certain beauty in Literal and Moral readings; the mysterious poetry found in complex Allegorical and Analogical passages; the epic satisfaction in putting the pieces of historical context of desert life, literal moral injunctions, theological continuity, and hidden allegories piecing types & archetypes together for a understanding of the unity and comprehensive nature of God. I love the inclusiveness; the Literal and Spiritual senses are brought to a Catholic reading of the Bible.
Studying Catholicism prior to becoming initiated into the faith, I discovered and agreed with the self-evident logic of the teaching:
"...the Christian faith is not a religion of the book. Christianity is the religion of the "Word" of God, a word which is 'not a written and mute word, but the Word which is incarnate and living.' If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the Living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, 'open [our] minds to understand the Scriptures.'" (paragraph 108 Catechism of the Catholic Church)
For me this is best typified-- and best loved in the clear, poetic, literal, contemplative, instructive, allegorical, beautiful language and meanings-- in The Gospel of John.
When I was in junior high school and high school, the words and discussion of the third chapter of the Gospel of John was everywhere. Heated discussions among Christians about how literal to take the words "In reply Jesus declared,'I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.'" The notation "3:16" was scribbled on the walls of bathroom stalls. Billboards across the country simply contained the words "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Other billboards where even more minimalist, with just the notation "John 3:16" in twenty foot high letters. And there was the Rainbow Man, who was seen at every significant sporting event in America holding a simple John 3:16 sign. Ultimate evangelization power (beauty and simplicity) was thought to exist in the simple notation or the concise 26 words.
I always yearned, however, for an acknowledgement that our relationship with God was slightly more involving. That we come to Jesus not for merely the quid pro quo of faith for heaven. While growing up, I thought that God was more poetic, than the reductionist equation of Belief = Life(Eternal); that worshipping and trusting the Trinity was larger than our small minds and mere wants.
I first heard part of the prologue (John 1:1-9) of the Gospel of the Beloved Disciple in high school as part of the introduction to our accomplished high school orchestra/choir performance of Handel's Messiah. The poetic, elliptical, magnificent language of John 1:1-9 gave me hope that Christianity was a faith bigger and ennobling than ourselves. Those lines stuck as my favorite scripture passage since 1974 (with addendum, explanation to follow). My beloved high school debate and forensics teacher, Mr. Larry Mendes wrote the script for our The Messiah because as a Catholic he best knew the full context of the key bible passage that serves as context for Handel's work.
As much as I loved the first ten verses, I lazily never took it upon myself to explore the entire Gospel of John; or even the full prologue (cf. John 1:1-I8). Then one Sunday four years ago, the first reading at mass the first Sunday of Advent, I heard the entire prologue, and my life changed. Look in the above text box, place yourself in the point of view of an uncertain but hopeful soul, and slowly read the entire prologue. Slow down when you read verses 10-18:
He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. John bore witness to him, and cried, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.'" And from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known. (Emphasis added)
I do not know if it was my special relating as father to an only son. Or if it was the shock of hearing verses from Scripture that I thought I knew, yet being completely surprised by the transfigured truth of the Word that made the verses sound gleaming and true in a new/old way. Either way, hearing those words hit my mind and heart as a lightening bolt of revelation and glory; truly an epiphany. Especially: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, and glory as of the only Son from the Father.
In my mind, "And the Word became flesh..." is a uniquely emphasized Catholic section of Holy Scripture. Whether as a mass reading annually heard during Advent, or the title of a monthly publication dedicated to Catholic mass readings and meditations on their meaning, or as part of the prayer liturgy The Angelus... the line "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" is the essence of "Catholic" scripture to me, and the particular section of the Holy Bible that was the catalyst to my wanting to become catholic; to explore the literal and figurative meanings of the phrase. God was the Word, as the inexpressible Yahweh of the Old Covenant Jewish tradition. He became flesh, and dwelt among us... God saw us not from a distance in heaven or the remove of a father. He was one of us, and still loved us and our slovenly ways. The Anointed One full of grace and truth, he died for us who more times than not are not full of grace and truth. Let me put it another way: from my experience, contemplation and naming the Son of God is not a Protestant way of doing mental business; and increasingly I desired to believe and think and worship the Nativity of Jesus as The Word coming as a Man (but simultaneously retaining his full Divinity), and staying long enough to fully know and love us all.
This new exploration of Christ triggered me to read full parts of John. I figured that the poetic writing style and implications of the prologue was more likely to be replicated; and John 3:16's reductionist prose is not likely the spirit of the rest of that Gospel, or the whole of the Bible. Starting from the prologue, I was surprised by scripture or concepts on every page.
Quick Aside, there is a series of books, compilations of convert testimonies actually by Patrick Madrid, that puts into print this phenomenon; documenting how people with a confident and seemingly thorough understanding of scripture and were shocked to learn that most Catholic teachings or teachings come from Bible passages that they were shocked to learn were some how ignored or skipped all of their non-Catholic lives. These convert testimonies are called Surprised By Truth and you can click on cover images here... here  ... here if you want to buy and read better written and better edited conversion stories than what I can produce.)
Famous converts Scott Hahn and Marcus Grodi (more on them and the television network I first encountered them on EWTN in Reason #46 I Converted to Catholicism) wrote the introduction to the first two of these books. I can say from my experience that writing the conversion stories, does not convey the exhausting, grace-filled, near miraculous/supernatural feeling of actually living conversion. Confronting the Bible, dogma, biases, and Tradition from a Protestant yet open heart/mind as you inquire about Catholic doctrine and lifestyle is a shocking experience.
As we are about to enter the Jubilee Year celebrating the 2000th Birthday of St. Paul, and remember/celebrate his stunned amazement at the majesty and forgiveness of Jesus in relation to the proto anti-Catholic that St. Paul was in the 1st Century, I recommend to all Christians reading one, two or three of the Surprised by Truth books. These tales will do for you what converts have to do for themselves: answer the most common objections to Catholicism -- and answer them in terms that non-Catholics find familiar and easy to understand. These stories will remind you of the critical truth that all converts gradually come know but most others forget: churches must not be judged by the weakness of their members, but by what they teach.The closer these former Protestants looked at Catholicism, the more they found that Christ's truth is taught in its fullness in the Catholic Church, and celebrated with a unique beauty and joy in Catholic prayer and liturgy that opens the follower to positive life changing attitudes and disciplines that result in greater life satisfaction, and a profound engagement with God and his Creation (other people in the world).
John contains so much poetic language, incidents from the life of Jesus, and the specific articles of the faith, that I am tempted to quote here almost the entire book. I will refrain from that, but I encourage you to to read this key book of the synoptic, apostolic Gospels. Some much of what we belive and do as Catholic Christians started with John. At the very least, a complete reading of John puts much of Christian faith in full context and gives our lives greater meaning.
Take, for instance, John 3:16. God did love the world, but it reads and sounds slightly simplistic and cramped unless you read the next verse. Starting at John 3:17, Jesus finishes teaching his identity and purpose to the Pharisee Nicodemus with a hard truth:
"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him... This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because the deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
I hope you get my point, that being a disciple of Christ is fuller yet harder than a billboard or bumper-sticker. In addition, there is so much of Catholic-ness that comes from John that I did not know for more than forty years of Christian life:
The Agnus Dei makes its first appearance at John 1:19: "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
Mary, Mother of God, enters salvation economy by participating in his first miracle (Water into Wine at the Wedding at Cana... John 2:1-5): "His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you."
The Miracle of the Multiplication of the Loaves (John 6:1-15)
Mary, is proclaimed Mother to Us All by Jesus (At the Foot of the Cross, last scene of The Crucifixion... John 19:26-27): "When Jesus mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Behold, here is your mother."
Jesus Reinstates Simon-Peter as The Rock of his Church on Earth (aka The First Pope) at the end of John (John 21:9-19): "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these? ...Feed my lambs... Take care of my sheep... Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go."
Jesus Washes His Disciples' Feet at The Last Supper (based on Passover Feast, John 13:1-). When I first heard/witnessed/participated in "The Washing of Feet" at a Catholic Holy Thursday liturgy, I was almost overcome with various emotions and thoughts (I will have more on my feelings and thoughts about Holy Thursday readings and liturgy in my planned blog Reason #49 Why I Converted to Catholicism: The Holy Triduum).
The biggest "hiding in plain sight" surprise in the whole of the Bible is John 6:22-71 (The Bread of Life Discourse). Alternately known as the foretelling and rationale for Communion/Eucharist, this section of Holy Scripture is foundational to Catholic faith because in that it shows Jesus teaching the doctrine to the Real Presence in the Eucharist. Clearly, directly, literally teaches that he is the Bread of Life:
6:45 It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 6:46 Not that any one has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father. 6:47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. 6:48 I am the bread of life. 6:49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 6:50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."
Subsequently, inevitably, some of the people listening objected; arguing that he could not be meaning what he was saying... to eat flesh? Jesus did not back off, or put the teaching in more political/metaphorical terms. He insisted on being who he was, and foretelling his mission:
6:53 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; 6:54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 6:55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 6:56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 6:57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. 6:58 This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever." 6:59This he said in the synagogue, as he taught at Caper'na-um.
Even to this day, this teaching is a cause of doubt and schism. Then as now, the average person converting to Catholic Christianity has to have this teaching repeated to them several times for it to sink in; then as now, many "believers" simply refuse to believe that Jesus Christ (body, blood, soul and divinity) is substantially present in the bread and wine of Eucharist. The scripture continues on verse 66: "As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him." But there it is, clear as day in John 6.
Not that there is not great mystery in Eucharist, as literally explained in this gospel; to be precise, there is great complexity for the implications of Jesus being the Bread of Life. Namely: How do we best honor the Son of Man after receiving him in the form of the Bread of Life? Catholics are taught, plus I truly profess and believe, that we are to to be (literally and spiritually) the body of Christ in the world. Making his will reality "... on earth, as it is in heaven." Individually and collectively; a joyously beautiful, yet a definite burden of discipleship picked up from a Catholic reading of The Gospel According to John... and the whole of the Holy Bible. |
