January 2, 2016 Saturday Before Epiphany Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzen Reading:1Jn2:22–28 Gospel:Jn1:19–28
This was the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?”John recognized the truth and did not deny it. He said, “I am not the Messiah.”And they asked him, “Then who are you? Elijah?” He answered, “I am not.” They said, “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered,
“No.” Then they said to him, “Tell us who you are, so that we can give some answer to those who sent us. How do you see yourself?” And John said, quoting the prophet Isaiah, “I am the voice crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord.” Those who had been sent were Pharisees; so they put a further question to John: “Then why are you baptizing if you are not the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”
John answered, “I baptize you with water, but among you stands one whom you do not know; although he comes after me, I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE (Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
John the Baptist could have misrepresented himself as the Messiah, but he did not. The temptation could have been real since many people believed him to be so as shown in their line of questioning about his identity. But John remained true to his nature as steward. “Nature”, wrote Jean-Jacques Rousseau in Emile, “never deceives us; it is always we who deceive ourselves.”
A healthy self-image is important to a herald like John. A steward who forgets about his nature will eclipse God by behaving like God. Good if he can act like one both in God’s cardinal attributes of mercy, compassion and justice. The tendency of people who usurp God’s position is to exact justice from others, never from themselves. An unhealthy self -image is disastrous because the person will neither be humane nor godly.
We too are heralds. Through faithful stewardship of material goods we make others feel their prayers are heard and so cultivate in them a heart full of gratitude to God. As John the Baptist fulfilled his role as herald by preparing repentant hearts for the Lord, we fulfill ours by preparing grateful hearts in God’s fold.
Abandonment of our role as stewards slackens our redeemed status. In due time hypocrisy will take the upper hand and we pretend like God lording it over others. The sufferings we inflict will mislead our fellowmen into thinking that God is an absent deity. That’s one kind of sham exceeding in intensity its propagator’s hypocrisy. It is repugnant to nature – the perfection of the art of deception. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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