Role of Christians

“I did not know him,
but the reason why I came baptizing with water
was that he might be made known to Israel."

John 1:31

While he was baptizing in the Jordan, John the Baptist saw Jesus and proclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” John the Baptist recognized that the One approaching him was not simply another person wishing to be baptized with water for the forgiveness of sins, but rather He was the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and the One who “existed before him.” Many truths are held in the few verses presented in this encounter and exchange between John and Jesus. It reveals who Jesus is and who John is. It reveals who we are and who we ought to be.

Jesus was younger than John the Baptist, yet he says Jesus “existed before him.” How can that be? St. John is trying to tell us something about the nature and identity of Jesus — He existed before John the Baptist because He has always been One with God, revealing to us the truth about the Trinity, one God, three Persons, consubstancial and that never was there a time when the Son was not (being). John the Baptist’s proclamation that Jesus is the Lamb of God ought to remind us of the Passover and Exodus when the Angel of Death upon seeing the lamb’s blood on the doorposts, passed over the homes of the Israelites, leaving them unharmed while striking down the first born of the Egyptians. Just as the blood protected the Israelites from death, so too will the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus, save us from death and bring us into eternal life, a life that is free, a life that is with God.

John the Baptist said “but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” This sums up the role of all Christians: we ought to make Jesus known to all. John the Baptist was baptizing and preaching not because he wanted to show off his great oration skills or gain a following of people, but because he knew his life and mission was to be a sign, a sign that pointed to the greatest Sign — Jesus Christ, the Son of God, upon Whom the sin of the world will be assumed and conquered once and for all. All that John the Baptist did pointed to Christ and made Him known. As Christians, we ought to do the same. Our lives and all that we do should point others in the way of Christ. How? Not necessarily like how John the Baptist did, but by love. Do our thoughts and actions reflect the love with which God loves us? We can imitate John the Baptist in saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God” and point to the Cross all we want, but if there is no love in our hearts, that becomes nothing more than an empty gesture. Brothers and sisters, may our lives and our entire beings point to Christ and make His Presence known to all.

God Made Manifest

“And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.”

Matthew 2:9b

Today the Church in the United States celebrates the Epiphany, when we remember the arrival of the Magi or the Wise Men and their presentation of gifts to the Infant Jesus. On a deeper level, the Epiphany is the day when God was made manifest to the people — not just to the Jews, but to all people and all nations, as symbolized by the visit of the Magi from afar.

In that little manger held a most fragile infant. A baby born without the luxury of post-natal care or other medical care. A baby born in a filthy stable and laid in a cold manger wrapped only in scraps of swaddling clothes. This is the way God chose to be made manifest to us: in weakness, in vulnerability, in rejection, in poverty, and in adversity. Our God is a God who stands with us and chooses to be with us in our weakness and trials. Even as the Infant was being born, His life was sought after already by King Herod. From the very moment of the Infant’s life to His final moments, the Lord’s life was at stake and was sought after. God was made manifest in a way that encapsulates the depths of human suffering and the trials one might and must endure in life. In every way, God became man. God became man to tell us that He is truly Emmanuel, “I am with you in every way, every step of the way.”

It was the star that led the Magi to the Infant Jesus. As learned men, they would have seen countless stars, yet this one was different. So different that they were willing to leave their homes, their places of comfort and security, to set off for a long journey to a distant place to see where this star would lead them. They knew at the end of their journey the would find something and someone amazing, Someone to whom they must bear gifts. They also know they would walk away from that encounter changed, where life would never be the same. Brothers and sisters, when we choose to leave behind in comfort what is familiar we will always be led to what is greater, and that to which we are led, we will come to possess: God Himself.

Are we aware of the stars that surround us? What are those stars that we look upon and follow? Do they lead us to Christ or do they lead us away from Christ? Let us identify those stars in our lives — people, places, things — (among them the Church) and allow them to lead us to the Infant Jesus who is God made man, who is God made manifest to us, reminding us that He is with us, in our joys and sorrows, health and sickness, sufferings and trials.

Brothers and sisters, let us look up at the sky and the nature that surrounds us today and may we be reminded of the Creator who created and placed all those things there for our joy, the same Creator who was wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid sleeping, fragile, and vulnerable in the manger. God has made Himself manifest to us. Will we journey to the depths of our hearts, to the spiritual Bethlehem’s in our brothers and sisters to find Him?

In With the New

Happy New Year! On January 1st, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. How wonderful is it that we are reminded on the first day of the year, on the day we embrace new beginnings, that we are not alone, that we indeed have a mother, a Mother in heaven who constantly prays for us and brings our needs before her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. How amazing is that!

During New Year celebrations and other times when we celebrate new beginnings, we often hear the saying, “out with the old, in with the new.” Of course this saying is telling us to leave behind whatever is bad or upsetting and move forward in hope, in the hope that this new beginning will bring good things and good outcomes. However, I’d like to invite you to not necessarily completely be “out with the old,” in that let us not simply think whatever bad that happened did not happen, but let us instead allow the past to usher in the new. Let us not forget the past because without the past our present and future would have no meaning. Things are only better because we have the past to see how far we have come. Without the old, we would not appreciate the new. Hence, the Church Fathers remind us that our faith, our life in Christ is “ever ancient, ever new.” We must embrace both the old and the new because that is who we are.

On the last day of the year, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was called home to the Father. As I reflect on his life and pontificate, I am brought back to memories of the final days of Pope John Paul II’s life. I watched his funeral on TV and I remember how then Cardinal Ratzinger led the faithful in celebrating the late Pope’s life. Days later he was elected Pope. A few years later he made his Apostolic Visit to the United States. Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy was one that was a silent, quiet one, right after the long and extensive papacy of JPII. A silent but consequential papacy. Pope Benedict XVI was a scholar, a theologian, and a humble servant who labored extensively in the vineyard of the Lord, knowing that he needed not see the harvest to labor well — something we ought to remind ourselves often. We labor primarily not for gains or to receive praise and accolades, but for that to which we have been called.

As we begin this new year, let us yes, leave behind all of our sadness and disappointments, but let us learn from them and allow them to propel us into the new year, so that as we embrace “in with the new” we might remember who we are, where we are from, how far we have come, and know that we are not alone on this journey this new year, for Our Mother Mary walks with us.

Happy New Year!