HE WAS THE FIRST TO ANNOUNCE
"I don't know what your
destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be
really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve." (Albert
Schweitzer)
In today's Gospel, John the
Baptist proclaims, as he sees Jesus Christ coming toward him, "Behold, the
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world" (Jn 1:29). John
recognizes the Person of Jesus as the long awaited Messiah, and with his profession
of faith he invites us to profess our own Faith, the Faith of the Catholic
Church, and our faith in Jesus Christ.
When St. Augustine would call
the people to communion, he would show them the consecrated bread and wine and
say, "Behold what you are; become what you receive." For we are what
we eat! Augustine recognized the multiple ways in which Christ Jesus is present
to us: present in His Church as it assembles together and present, too, under
the forms of bread and wine. The Eucharist then helps us to grow in holiness
and wholeness.
In today's Responsorial Psalm
we acclaim, "Here am I, Lord; I come to do Your will. To do Your will, O
my God, is my delight, and Your law is within my heart" (Ps 40:8a,
9)! God, You have opened my ears, that
I may hear Your word, obey Your will, and follow Your law of love. "Behold
what you are."
I read in a commentary about
a great scholar and physician Albert Schweitzer. He wrote, "I don't know
what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who
will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to
serve."
When we think of John the
Baptist, we picture a man who definitely knew what he was doing and why he was
here. Was there ever a more focused vocation than his? Before he was born, he
had a sense of his mission to prepare the way for the Messiah. He leaped in the
womb with great joy. John was the first to announce the coming of a new Kingdom
and preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins; he was preparing us for the beginning
of the journey to live a life of Christianity. Saint John the Baptist admits
that everything he said and did took its meaning in the hour he encountered
Jesus Christ.
Mahatma Gandhi said,
"Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the
served. But all other pleasures and possessions pale into nothingness before
service which is rendered in a spirit of joy."
"Behold what you are;
become what you receive."