As always, this blog uses the list of daily bible readings from the Catholic Church

Reading 1, 1 John 2:22-28

22 Who is the liar, if not one who claims that Jesus is not the Christ? This is the Antichrist, who denies both the Father and the Son.

23 Whoever denies the Son cannot have the Father either; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father too.

24 Let what you heard in the beginning remain in you; as long as what you heard in the beginning remains in you, you will remain in the Son and in the Father.

25 And the promise he made you himself is eternal life.

26 So much have I written to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.

27 But as for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you; since the anointing he gave you teaches you everything, and since it is true, not false, remain in him just as he has taught you.

28 Therefore remain in him now, children, so that when he appears we may be fearless, and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

Gospel, John 1:19-28

19 This was the witness of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’

20 He declared, he did not deny but declared, ‘I am not the Christ.’

21 So they asked, ‘Then are you Elijah?’ He replied, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the Prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’

22 So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?’

23 So he said, ‘I am, as Isaiah prophesied: A voice of one that cries in the desert: Prepare a way for the Lord. Make his paths straight!’

24 Now those who had been sent were Pharisees,

25 and they put this question to him, ‘Why are you baptising if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah, and not the Prophet?’

26 John answered them, ‘I baptise with water; but standing among you — unknown to you-

27 is the one who is coming after me; and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandal.’

28 This happened at Bethany, on the far side of the Jordan, where John was baptising.

He saw the Spirit desecnding on him in the form of a dove

John the letter-writer had described those who might lead believers astray as denying that “Jesus Christ had come in the flesh.” – a well-known heresy, which depicted Jesus as not truly human. In this passage he states that they deny that Jesus is the Christ, that is, the Messiah expected by the Jewish people. For John, the name Messiah meant a human leader. Over the years since then, the title Messiah became less and less understood by Christians who began to think of it as Jesus’ second name. It had also a deeper significance for John: its literal meaning of “anointed person” was important to him, for in baptism (a kind of anointing), the Spirit which inspired Jesus was transmitted to the believer; and in John’s view, the primary task of the Spirit was to lead believers into truth. That’s the meaning of his words about the “anointing” which will ensure that believers remain in Christ.

 This teaching connects with verse 26 of the Gospel passage where John the Baptiser contrasts his own act of baptism in water, with Jesus’ kind of “baptism” which, we know from the other Gospels, will be with the Holy Spirit.

 Throughout my lifetime, the place of fundamental doctrine in the Christian church has been weakened by a concentration on right action, good feeling and spiritual experience. Perhaps this was a useful corrective to an over-reliance on doctrine in the mainstream churches. John, however, emphasises that Spiritual experience (anointing) reinforces basic doctrine (“what you heard in the beginning”). I find that my own faith needs definite statements to guide my thinking, my action and my worship. Catholic faith, that is, the faith shared by all mainstream churches, who are pledged to listen to scripture, tradition and each other, in the power of the Spirit, provides those statements. Vagueness is no help in a world of strident voices