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Christmas Weekday
1 John 2:29-36
Psalm 98:1, 3CD-4, 5-6
John1:29-34
Summary
Today’s Gospel is of John the Baptist announcing, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes
away
the sin of the world.” He continues on the describe the Holy Spirit coming down and re-
maining
over the head of Jesus. Because of his experience and faith, John testifies that Jesus is the Son
of
God.
Reflection
Recently we attended mass at the parish of some friends whose children were singing in the
choir that day. The presiding priest was one of the youngest I have seen and must have been
recently ordained. His homily was very good and the Pastor was in the audience as well. The
Pastor got up to make some announcements including praising the new priest and his
preaching abilities. Upon receiving the congregation’s applause, the new priest immediately,
simply pointed to the crucifix above him. His display of humility made his message that
much stronger. It is also common to see professional baseball players point to the sky and
perhaps offer the sign of the cross when making a good play. The humility of John the Bap-
tist is inspiring and a testament to his own ability to pay attention to the Holy Spirit acting
in his own life.
At times I find myself struggling with a stressful situation and I can't see the way through to
a resolution to the problem or issue at hand. I want to quickly “fix” the problem and move
on to the next item. Rarely do I see clearly when I’m in this situation and even my blurred
vision is not apparent to me either. A call to my wife will normally help me tremendously.
She carefully listens and while offering no “quick fix”, she centers me and says a brief prayer
putting things in proper perspective for me. This return to Christ and doing his will is what I
am reminded of when reading of John the Baptist and his focus not on himself but on Christ
as the Son of God.
John is so clear in his mission and his trust in God that his humility is not forced or con-
trived but rather a true gift of the Holy Spirit. In today’s Gospel John the Baptist demon-
strates many of the seven gifts at work in him. Wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel,
fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord.
In a well known tapestry at our Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels, the artist, John Nava, de-
picts the baptism of Christ perfectly. The strength and humility of both John the Baptist and
Jesus is very apparent and inspirational.