“As for you, the anointing that you received from him remains in you, so that you do not need anyone to teach you.”

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the first reading from St John…..John’s writings are not straight forward……He is a mystic….One cannot read John’s Gospel like the other Gospels because John was not like the other three Gospel writers…He was the closest disciple to Jesus Christ and something else to keep in mind…John lived with the Mother of God for years after the death of Christ…That time living with Our Lady had to have left a deep impact on him…That is why he is different and that is why we must pay extra attention to what he has to say…..…….”Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made us: eternal life. I write you these things about those who would deceive you. As for you, the anointing that you received from him remains in you, so that you do not need anyone to teach you. But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false; just as it taught you, remain in him”……….When one is living in the state of grace, one receives the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord)…..As I read this passage of John, the line that jumped out at me the most was this…..”so that you do not need anyone to teach you”…….This is a direct reference to two of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are wisdom and knowledge….The secular world defines wisdom and knowledge very differently…One can have a very high aptitude and incredible analytical intelligence and still lack authentic wisdom and knowledge - The kind that St John eludes to here in his Gospel…….The Holy Spirit enlightens the mind….A secular person reading this “thinks” such a statement is crazy…..But Sacramental grace is real and so is the Holy Spirit…This is why John says…”you do not need anyone to teach you”…..The problem is…Are we living in the state of grace?…..There is only one way to do this…..Go to Confession frequently, which opens up our soul to receive grace - So that grace floods our soul when we received the Blessed Sacrament at Mass…..As Catholics - Are we doing this?…….Do you realize that someone could go to Mass everyday of his life - If that person does not got to Confession, the grace of the Sacrament WILL NOT penetrate their soul - Do you understand this?….St John tells us today……”His anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false; just as it taught you, remain in him”…….The last part of this sentence is so very important - Did you catch it?……..”Remain in him”

“He said: “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord”

For those who have studied advanced mathematics, one knows that there comes a point when studying just does not cut it…You either have a mind for math or you don’t…..I have taken three semesters of advanced mathematics in college and there came a point when my mind simply could not grasp the topics any more….Understanding math and having an analytical mind is a gift - And like all gifts, it can’t be self manufactured no matter how hard you try….Such a person who has this kind of mind sees a math problem three dimensionally as opposed to the person who does not have the gift - they see the math problem two dimensionally…Why do I bring this up?….The kind of knowledge St John is referencing here in his Gospel is “three dimensional” - It is a gift of the Holy Spirit…And this gift is only received by living a Sacramental life….This is why there are many brilliant theologians who get it all wrong…...They get it wrong because they are “thinking” two dimensionally……As Catholics we have to understand this….True knowledge - True wisdom - What we “see” - What we “hear”….....All this comes from the Holy Spirit….It has nothing to do with raw analytical intelligence……And anyone can posses this gift - But only if we live Sacramentally.

“I baptize with water; but 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.”

St John today at Mass tells us all something that can easily be missed…Or maybe even dismissed by those who believe themselves to be sophisticated by modern standards…..The knowledge John talks about does not come from books….And its this knowledge that not only saves our soul but guides our decisions and also determines what we see and don’t see in the world around us…..For example……Freemasonry, which is an ancient organization committed against the Catholic Church….They uses the symbol of the eye in a triangle…This is a direct reference to what St John tells us today - But a mockery of it - Seeing in and through the Holy Spirit…Freemasons claim that they are the ones “that see”….This is how the devil operates - He attempts to mock God ever so slightly and twists the truth in such a way that people get fooled……..But God will not be mocked and nor can God be fooled…….And if we do as St John says today….We too will not be fooled….”As for you, the anointing that you received from him remains in you, so that you do not need anyone to teach you”……………JMJ