December 14, 2014
Sunday
3rd Sunday of Advent
St. John of the Cross
1st Reading:
Is 61:1-2a, 10-11
2nd Reading:
1 Thes 5:16-24
Gospel: Jn 1:6-8, 19-28
A man came, sent by God; his name was John. He came to bear witness, as a witness to introduce the Light so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but a witness to introduce the Light. 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.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
A person with a mission can draw precious lessons of Sun-Tzu’s Art of War published more than 2,500 years ago. Part of the book reads: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle”.
Self knowledge is as important to a missionary as to a warrior. This is not to belittle the role of grace. Grace, in fact, accounts for 99.9% of human success. But precisely because the bestowal of grace is lavish, the person becomes top heavy. Because his center of gravity is high he easily tumbles. Grace operates that way; it builds on nature.
Consider the case of John the Baptist. The narcissistic would have readily succumbed to the temptation of usurping undue glory. But John did not. Anchored firmly on sound self knowledge he declared: “I am not the Messiah.” In standing by his identity John pulled himself many levels higher in the eyes of people. This amounted to raising the Messiah even higher when he announced that he was not even worthy to untie the straps of His sandals.
Because of shifting values, our mission today is tough. If there is also an inner war happening within ourselves we are sure losers of both. Let’s get the inner battle done first. “Madness is fighting outside ourselves when the struggle is within” (Anonymous). In winning the inner fight we need not fear the outcome of any difficult mission. God’s grace on a person solidly grounded will take the enemies to their knees fatally wounded. —Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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