Thursday, January 2, 2014
Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzen
Reading: 1 Jn 2:22–28
Gospel: Jn 1:19–28
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.”
This happened in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
John the Baptist could have usurped the role of the Messiah. Many were ready to be taken in for a ride. In fact, in today’s Gospel, the line of questioning of the people regarding his identity indicated that they were more inclined to believe he was the Messiah. But John did not mince words. He said he was just the poor voice shouting out in the desert, “Prepare the way of the Lord!”
Today’s Gospel is a timely reminder on the importance of a healthy self image to a herald of God. The message concerns us since we are all called to announce the existence of God to the world. If we do not have a healthy self image we deceive ourselves into believing we are the God whose existence we are supposed to announce to the world. We then behave like God. Good if we act like God in his cardinal attributes of love and justice. More often the tendency of people with unhealthy self image is to exact justice from others never from themselves, and exact love from others without loving others as they should. A person with unhealthy self image turns into a monster because in his attempt to become like God he stops behaving like a human being. A monster like this is not only dangerous to others but also to himself.
Let us cultivate a healthy self image by injecting the world its daily dosage of love extracted from our hearts. A tall order? No, not at all! “Nature”, wrote Jean-Jacques Rousseau in Emile, “never deceives us; it is always we who deceive ourselves.” It is our nature to love; what are our hearts meant for? When not oppressed by inordinate desires and the heart is allowed to beat on its own, loving comes out so naturally in us. With the resultant healthy self image we can be as efficient as John the Baptist in proclaiming God to the world. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
Prayer for the day: God our Father, help us to begin this year with a firm resolve to be heralds of your Word. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
CHURCH BULLETIN:
SAINT OF THE DAY:
St. Basil the Great (329-379). He founded the first monastery in Asia Minor. Later he became Archbishop of what is now Southeastern Turkey. He defended the Church against the heresy of Arianism and built a hospital that was called the wonder of the world. St. Basil said: “The bread which you do not use is the bread of the hungry; the garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of him who is naked; the shoes that you do not wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot; the money that you keep locked away is the money of the poor; the acts of charity that you do not perform are so many injustices that you commit.”
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