Reflection for Monday 

By

Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Director, Social Action Movement, Don Bosco Bidar

Today's WORD of GOD 

John 1: 19 - 28

Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” 

They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” 

He said, “I am not.” 

“Are you the Prophet?” 

He answered, “No.” 

Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 

John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” 

Now the Pharisees who had been sent  questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 

“I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know.  

He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” 

This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 


Meditation on the Word of God 

By His Preaching of Repentance, John the Baptist Prepared the Way for the Coming of Our Saviour, JESUS CHRIST. 

In order to Prepare to be  a Spiritual Guide for Others, He was Drawn by the HOLY SPIRIT to an Austere & Contemplative Style of Life, living in the Desert of Judea from His Youth until His Early Manhood, about 30 Years of Age.

At that Stage He began His Public Mission as a Preacher of Repentance & Renewal to His Jewish People. 

He Showed Them Simple Ordinary Ways to Serve GOD in Their Daily Lives, & Proclaimed the Imminent Coming of the Messiah, who would Pour Out GOD'S SPIRIT More Richly Upon Them.

Many People Seeking Direction, Especially Those Regarded by the Temple Authorities as Marginal Jews (such as Tax Collectors & Prostitutes) Received John as the True Herald of GOD, & Heard His Words as Those of a True Prophet. 

To the Official Leaders of Judaism, the Priests & the Pharisees, John Seemed More a Threat than a Blessing. Their Resistance to a Message Requiring Moral & Spiritual Renewal Made Them Unable to Hear the Divine Guidance Latent in His Words. 

Today’s Gospel is a Sober Reminder to All of Us, but Especially to CHURCH Leaders, to Listen to what the HOLY SPIRIT Says through the Voices of Awkward Prophecy.

The Question Put to John the Baptist, “Who are U, then?” is One of the Most Challenging of All Questions to Answer. We can Struggle to Answer Honestly or Fully, “Who am I, Really?” It’s Easy to Reply at a Certain Level by Telling People where We were Born or what Work We Do or what Role We Play in Our Family, 

While These Answers would be True, to Get Beyond the Externals of Our Autobiography to who We are in Inmost Our Core is much More Difficult. Our Responses to that Deeper Question can Change as We Go through Life. 

How We Answer It at This Moment in Our Lives is Not what We would have Said Earlier in Our Lives.

For People of Christian Faith, the Answer to This Existential Question will be Influenced by Our Relationship with JESUS, because that Relationship Affects Us at Our Very Core. 

St. Paul is the Great Example of This Immersion in CHRIST. If Asked, “Who are U, then?” He might Answer in the Words He Wrote in Galatians, “It is No Longer I who Live but CHRIST who Lives in Me.” 

When John the Baptist was Asked that Key Question in Today’s Gospel, He Cals Himself a Voice that Cries in the Wilderness. His Identity was Shaped by His Relationship with JESUS. He is the Voice who Witnesses to the WORD, the WORD that has become Flesh. 

Our Destiny is to Keep on Growing into CHRIST Until Our Identity is Fully Shaped by Our Relationship with HIM.

Good morning

Have a lovely day

And a splendid week ahead

God bless you all thoughout the New Year