Friday after Epiphany

 Lectionary: 216

Who indeed is the victor over the world
but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
This is the one who came through water and Blood, Jesus Christ,
not by water alone, but by water and Blood. 
The Spirit is the one who testifies,
and the Spirit is truth. 

The Gospel and Letters of Saint John reveal God's way of saving us through the sacraments. An age which prefers vague, ill-defined words like spirit and spiritual doesn't want to touch people -- especially sick people -- as Jesus does in today's gospel. They prefer his yelling at the distant lepers. "Go show yourself to the priest!" 

Catholics love our tactile sacraments, especially the water and the blood, and we immediately recognize the sacramental references in Saint John's writing. 

But even many Catholics are squeamish about human contact. Many people refuse to receive from the cup despite the Lord's command to "Take and drink!" And some Catholics stand frozen when the priest or deacon invites them to offer one another a sign of peace. Even a handshake is too much for them. 

The Spirit who testifies to the truth invites us into fearless communion with one another, and the kind of intimate contact we enjoy in our own homes. Even during a pandemic and within our own homes we cannot be bothered with the "plague that ravages at noon." 

When COVID arrived in the VA hospital, I was told not to enter the rooms of plague-stricken patients. I'll admit I was nervous when I defied the order, not because of the order but because of the illness. But I am a priest and I had a job to do, and I remembered the 91st psalm -- which is known as "the warrior's psalm." 

He will shelter you with his pinions,

and under his wings you may take refuge;

his faithfulness is a protecting shield.

You shall not fear the terror of the night

nor the arrow that flies by day,

Nor the pestilence that roams in darkness,

nor the plague that ravages at noon.

Though a thousand fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

near you it shall not come.

Such is the power of the sacraments and the authority of our faith. 

The Spirit is the one who testifies,

and the Spirit is truth. 

PS: (I may have finally gotten the illness after retiring from the hospital.)