What we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life — for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it. Being a Christian relies on eye witnesses. St. John begins his epistle by saying the the encounter with God he experienced in knowing Jesus was concrete and real. It is not for us to sigh and wish for the good old days when we might have done the same thing. Rather, our faith too depends on the concrete and real. While might not know Jesus in the flesh we have the opportunity to encounter him with our eyes and our hands today. We meet Jesus in the Scripture which captures the identity of the Word. We meet Jesus in the Eucharist, the gift that he gave us so we we have his Real Presence in our lives. We meet Jesus in the Church which is his Body. We meet Jesus in those who are hurting since whatever we do for the least, we do for him.
