John the Baptist is once again at the center of our Gospel reading this weekend. He has moved from shouting “prepare the way of the Lord” to “behold the Lamb of God!”, then he admits that he did not, at first, recognize Jesus as “the Lamb of God”.
And remember also, that in the Gospel of Luke, after his arrest John sends two disciples to ask Jesus, are you “the one who is to come or are we to wait for another?”
There seems to be a certain amount of ambiguity as to John’s understanding of who Jesus really was. What is clear is that all of this happened in a particular time in a particular place to real people who actually knew this one called Jesus, the Christ.
God came to us “Emmanuel” and it all points to the need for us to be constantly looking for the way in which God continues to self-reveal to us and is present every moment of every day of our life. Remember, we are Temples of the Holy Spirit, that means that Divinity dwells within us!
Much like the Magi we heard of last week, they saw the star, they looked up at the same night sky as all the rest of the people of the earth but they were the ones who “saw.” Why?... because they expected to see something! Their hearts were open to God; they expected God to be present in their lives.
John the Baptist expected the Messiah to come and so he recognized him when at last he came. Like John and like the Magi we have to look, expecting to see, expecting to find God present in the midst of our daily lives. Like them, we too then will see with expectant eyes God’s amazing presence in the most surprising of places in our everyday lives.
Let us ask ourselves, where did I last glimpse God’s presence in my life? Did I stop to savor it, or share it with someone else? Or is life so overbooked, and so chaotic that I miss the glimpses of God’s presence, or I see them but don’t have time to savor them, to hold them in my heart like Mary did?
But let each one of us know, that regardless of whether we see or feel the presence of the Divine, it is with us, and within us! Remember Jesus’ promise…(John 14:19-20) “In a little while the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.” Let us rejoice in this Divine indwelling, within each and everyone of us!
Fr. Tim
And remember also, that in the Gospel of Luke, after his arrest John sends two disciples to ask Jesus, are you “the one who is to come or are we to wait for another?”
There seems to be a certain amount of ambiguity as to John’s understanding of who Jesus really was. What is clear is that all of this happened in a particular time in a particular place to real people who actually knew this one called Jesus, the Christ.
God came to us “Emmanuel” and it all points to the need for us to be constantly looking for the way in which God continues to self-reveal to us and is present every moment of every day of our life. Remember, we are Temples of the Holy Spirit, that means that Divinity dwells within us!
Much like the Magi we heard of last week, they saw the star, they looked up at the same night sky as all the rest of the people of the earth but they were the ones who “saw.” Why?... because they expected to see something! Their hearts were open to God; they expected God to be present in their lives.
John the Baptist expected the Messiah to come and so he recognized him when at last he came. Like John and like the Magi we have to look, expecting to see, expecting to find God present in the midst of our daily lives. Like them, we too then will see with expectant eyes God’s amazing presence in the most surprising of places in our everyday lives.
Let us ask ourselves, where did I last glimpse God’s presence in my life? Did I stop to savor it, or share it with someone else? Or is life so overbooked, and so chaotic that I miss the glimpses of God’s presence, or I see them but don’t have time to savor them, to hold them in my heart like Mary did?
But let each one of us know, that regardless of whether we see or feel the presence of the Divine, it is with us, and within us! Remember Jesus’ promise…(John 14:19-20) “In a little while the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.” Let us rejoice in this Divine indwelling, within each and everyone of us!
Fr. Tim
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