And that makes such sense because “the anointing we received from him remains in you.”
And this is no senseless or superficial anointing, but an anointing with the very spirit of God that “teaches you about everything that is true and not false.”
+ How is that so?
It appears to many that a true anointing of the spirit is much more than just a ceremony or religious rite; it goes so much deeper.
When something enters the heart in truth and is received in truth and remains in truth and then leads and guides in truth, error and deception does not have much of a chance.
When we struggle to listen with our hearts, we tend to remain humble enough to search out truth and humble enough to admit when we are wrong; and humble enough to wait and process and develop and make a change when needed, and humble enough to embrace humility.
+ Our patron saint, like the doctors of the church we celebrate today, was also a doctor of the church and an abbot of the church, and famously once said: “The three most important virtues are humility, humility, and humility.”
Humility is like a door that keeps the mind and heart and spirit open.
Pride is such a pernicious attitude and way of being that deceives at fundamental levels and helps to allow that deception to convince us of non-truth.
It can cause us not to remain in him and cause us to fail to see and hear that voice of an anointed one who sees and listens with all their heart and allows and even causes one to seek the truth.
That is, to seek and to find.
John was such an anointed one. Humble and True, always.
“Are you he …?” and in all humility, John spoke back the truth: “I am not he.”
And John, admitting with all humility and truth declared: “There is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
Was this exaggeration? Hyperbole? Or true humility?
Was John capable, even unto death by beheading, to “remain in him” and to allow God to guide and direct and remain within John’s life.
+ And what about us?
Can we remain? Do we remain?
And does our anointing keep us true and in truth always?
For it all comes down, in some sense, to those two words: eternal life.
That is the promise! That is the gift!
That is the reason for the season and the gift that HE brought to us.
And it is now and forever!
Father Perry D. Leiker is the 13th pastor of St. Bernard Catholic Church. Reach him at (323) 255-6142. Email Father Perry at pleiker@stbernard-church.com. Follow Father Perry on Twitter: @MrDeano76.
