Being the Best Man

“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.
He must increase; I must decrease.”

John 3:29-30

What is the job and responsibility of the best man? Someone who is right there with the groom. A trusted brother and a faithful friend. He helps prepare the groom for his big day, but not only that, he is with him on his big day and continues to remain with him afterwards. In other words, the best man is one who has the groom’s back and who supports him in any way he is able to. The best man knows that he is not the star of the day; he knows it is all about the bride and the groom. St. John the Baptist refers to himself as the best man of the Bridegroom, Christ.

St. John the Baptist’s entire life pointed to Christ and prepared the way for Him. John knew that when all was said and done, it was all about Jesus, the Son of God, the Bridegroom of the wedding feast. Although it is all about Jesus, John does not get jealous or asks what’s in it for him; rather he says that now that Jesus has come his joy “has been made complete.” Brothers and sisters, the fruit of putting Jesus first is joy, a joy that is complete. Jesus wants our joy to be complete too, do we? If we do, how can we go about it? John gives us the answer, “He must increase; I must decrease.”

The space in our hearts and lives given to Jesus must increase, and those areas allotted to self-interest, pride, jealousy, envy, etc. must decrease. Jesus must be the center of our lives and we must be the best man. All that we say and do ought to allow the love and joy of Jesus to radiate from within us for all to see and experience. We must be content with being the best man and never, out of pride or envy, strive to be the Bridegroom. Our lives must point to Christ and not to ourselves. Because when we live our lives for others we come to realize how much happier and more fulfilling our lives become. So, today let us promise to do our best to be the best best man we can so that like John the Baptist, our joy too might be made complete.

Withdrawing from the Crowds

“The report about him spread all the more,
and great crowds assembled to listen to him
and to be cured of their ailments,
but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.”

Luke 5:15-16

Upon healing the leper from his leprosy Jesus told him to not tell anyone, but instead we are told that news about this spread wide and far to the point where everyone started to come to Jesus to listen to Him and to be healed. But Jesus withdrew to deserted places to pray. Why did He do that? Why didn’t Jesus stay and teach and heal the people instead? There are multiple levels of reasons, but first and foremost is that Jesus is showing that what is central to His life and His mission is His relationship with the Father: His prayer life.

As Christians we must have and maintain our relationship with God, in other words, our prayer life. Jesus withdrew not because He didn’t want to help the people, but because He knew that if His relationship with the Father was not first, His mission would not be possible. In the same way, without putting our relationship with God first, without spending time in prayer with the Lord, we really won’t be able to do much with true charity and love. We must draw from the font and source of Love in order to love, and so like Jesus, we must withdraw to deserted places, to the quiet of our hearts, and pray — to speak to and to listen to God. It is in the withdrawing to those quiet places that we will be given the strength and fortitude to go back to love and to minister to the People of God.

So, Jesus withdrew not to hide, but to speak with the Father. Similarly we ought to withdraw not to hide from the anxieties and uncertainties of life, but rather withdraw to commune with the Father and by doing so receive the grace and strength to embrace those anxieties and uncertainties, allowing God to bring about great good through them.

Inhibited from Loving

“If anyone says, “I love God,”
but hates his brother, he is a liar;
for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen
cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

1 John 4:20

When asked what was the greatest commandment, Jesus said that it is to love God, but it doesn’t stop there. In loving God something else must necessarily follow. Jesus said the second is like the first: to love your neighbor as yourself. In other words, we cannot love God and not love our neighbors. That’s it. It’s short and simple. But as we know from experience not as quick and easy to live out. So what’s keeping us from loving God and loving our neighbors?

That’s a question that we need to ask ourselves and to bring it to God in prayer. At the core of it, it is because of our brokenness and woundedness. But the individual specificities are different for each one of us. Maybe for some it is insecurity in their own abilities and so jealousy inhibits them from seeing the other as a person of value, a child of God. For others maybe it is their pride that gets in the way. Still others maybe self-hate, not seeing their true worth and believing that they are unlovable and so relationships with others are meaningless and pointless. It could be a multitude of reasons. But what is it that keeps YOU and ME from loving?

May we be never allow our own insecurities and fears to keep us from going to God. Learning to love and also learning to be loved by God and by others is a lifelong journey. It goes along with our journey of faith, our journey of discipleship. Remember, it is a journey and along the way there will be bumps, detours, traffic jams, and accidents, but at the same time there will also be well paved roads, service centers to refuel, beautiful sunrises and sunsets, and breathtaking scenery and landscapes along the way. It is a journey and it is an adventure, but never one that is alone.

Let us remember that Jesus says to us “It is I; do not be afraid,” and so in faith and trust go to the Lord and ask, “Lord, what is keeping me from loving you and loving my neighbors? Help me to see and to understand, and please give me the grace to desire what is good and the courage to turn towards you and to love.”