Daily reflection _ He was the first to announce


HE WAS THE FIRST TO ANNOUNCE
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.
Deacon John Ruscheinsky
In today's Gospel, John the Baptist proclaims, as he sees Jesus Christ coming toward him, "Behold, the Lamb of God." while standing with two of his disciples. 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."