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.
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."