Saturday After Epiphany
We know that we belong to God, and the whole world is under the power of the evil one. We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us discernment to know the one who is true. And we are in the one who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Children, be on your guard against idols. 1John 5:19-21
John answered and said, "No one can receive anything except what has been given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said (that) I am not the Messiah, but that I was sent before him. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete. John 3:27-29
PietyLive Eternally in Me
So act, good Jesus,
that in all my relationships with whatever neighbor
and in all I do for the furthering of your Father’s glory
and the salvation of others,
I form myself on your pattern;
That I be a genuine reflection of your moderation, gentleness, humility, patience, graciousness, tireless zeal,
In a word, of all your virtues;
And, in order to engrave them in my soul,
Live eternally in me.
-- Jean-Pierre Médaille, SJ
(From Hearts on Fire: Praying with Jesuits, edited by Michael Harter, SJ.
The gift Jesus offers to us in today’s scripture is discernment -- learning what is best and choosing that.
In our society, as in Biblical times, the world is filled with competitions we seek to win. Against Others. Against Nature. Against Machines. These themes fill our lives, our stories, our movies, our dreams.
The company or organization where we work wants to do better than its rival. The school where we study wants to do better than the school in the next town. Our neighbors don’t just want to keep up with the Jones’ but do even better. Our co-workers want to get favorable treatment.
We are the same way. Who hasn’t found themselves caught up in the spiral of capitalism? Best Buy wants us to fill our time with gadgets. Ditech entices us to get a lower rate on our mortgage. Fidelity advisors lure us to seek a higher “return” on our retirement savings. Marlo commercials pitch a lower price on a new leather sofa. Because in life, much of what we are is measured by what we have and what we want to have. Salaries. Houses. Degrees. Cars. Plasma screen TVs.
John refused to play by the rules of competitive society. He already chose to live out in the desert away from society. People came to him for Baptism. When Jesus and His disciples started doing the same, some Jews who were with John objected. They viewed this as a sort of competition. Maybe people who were coming for ceremonial washings were offering some kind of gift or contribution for the service.
Baptism for us is a once in a lifetime occurrence. However, for people in the Jewish faith, purification rites (mikvuh) were established for restoration to a condition of “ritual purity” in specific sets of circumstances. Some people might seek this monthly, weekly and maybe even more frequently. According to some texts, the mikvah is a rite that is meant to be carried out repeatedly, and is thus essentially different from baptism, which has an unrepeatable character.
We can almost hear them saying to John, “You baptized the man from
John would not be caught up in any kind of personal rivalry or competition. He refused to be governed by the rules of the world. He preferred to be a voice crying out in the wilderness. John the Baptist knew what we read today. That Children of God must live by a different set of rules.
Our rules are not set by the world where we are forced to live for a while, our exile from God.
John reminds us that "No one can receive anything except what has been given him from heaven.” We must decrease to make room for Jesus.
Welcome the migrants.
Today is the end of National Migration Week as established by the USCCB. Let us continue to work and pray that we will be the example of people who will make room in our hearts and our communities for children of God who seek a better life in
Our gifts from heaven are meant to be shared with all people just like John freely shared the gift of Baptism.
According to those radicals at the USCCB, “After failure by the U.S. Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform last summer, the Catholic Bishops have vowed to continue raising their prophetic voice calling the faithful and all people of goodwill to reach out in love and understanding to our migrant brothers and sisters. We must learn of the realities that cause them to leave all that is precious behind for an uncertain future, learn the truth about the many contributions they make and gifts they bring to our society, and work to reform our immigration laws that cause family disintegration and strife within communities.”
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