Saturday January 2

Saturday Before Epiphany

 

THE MESSIAH IN OUR MIDST 

 

Introduction

In his first letter, John, probably reacting against the Gnostics, strongly asserts that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ in our midst.

Like John the Baptist in the Gospel, we, and the whole Church, have to assert strongly that we are not the Christ, though he stands among us, but we have to be his voice, most of all by the way we live. Our lives have to point to him.

 

Opening Prayer

God,
your Son stands among us,
but we don’t know him enough
and people may not know him enough
because they don’t see him in us or among us.
Make us his voice,
perhaps a silent and timid voice,
because we show a bit of his goodness,
of his compassion and forgiveness
by the way we live.
We are not Christ,
but let us be his humble sign and voice,
for he is our Lord for ever.

 

Reading 1: 1 Jn 2:22-28

Beloved:
Who is the liar?
Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ.
Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist.
Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father,
but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.

Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you.
If what you heard from the beginning remains in you,
then you will remain in the Son and in the Father.
And this is the promise that he made us: eternal life.
I write you these things about those who would deceive you.
As for you,
the anointing that you received from him remains in you,
so that you do not need anyone to teach you.
But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false;
just as it taught you, remain in him.

And now, children, remain in him,
so that when he appears we may have confidence
and not be put to shame by him at his coming.

 

Responsorial Psalm: PS 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4

(3cd) All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

 

Alleluia: Heb 1:1-2

Alleluia, alleluia.
In times past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets:
in these last days, he has spoken to us through his Son.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: Jn 1:19-28

This is the testimony of John.
When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him
to ask him, “Who are you?”
He admitted and did not deny it, but admitted,
“I am not the Christ.”
So they asked him,
“What are you then? Are you Elijah?”
And he said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
So they said to him,
“Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us?
What do you have to say for yourself?”
He said:
“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’
as Isaiah the prophet said.”
Some Pharisees were also sent.
They asked him,
“Why then do you baptize
if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?”
John answered them,
“I baptize with water;
but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,
the one who is coming after me,
whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
This happened in Bethany across the Jordan,
where John was baptizing.

 

Intercessions

–         That the Church and all of us may be one voice pointing to Christ as our life and the source of our faith and happiness, we pray:

–         Especially for our priests, catechists, and religious, who are by vocation road signs to Christ, that their word and life style may lead people to him, we pray:

–         For people to whom Christ is still unknown, that they may discover Christ as the meaning of their lives, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Our loving God,
you come among us as a person,
human like us and close to us in your Son Jesus Christ.
Give us a deep and living faith in him,
that we may live in him
and be close to him in all we say and do.
For he is our Lord and God,
and yet our brother who loves us.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

 

Prayer after Communion

Father of Jesus Christ,
your Son has spoken to us
and he has nourished us
with himself, with his body and blood.
Though we know him now a bit better,
we ask you insistently
that we may come to love him more,
for in many ways he is still a stranger to us
and we are still very much unlike him.
Let Jesus live in us, now and for ever.

 

Blessing

If only we could be better voices and signs of Christ! We wish that we, and the whole world, would know him better. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

 

Who are you?

At the beginning of a drama you need to get to know the characters . Three times the spiritual leaders of the people anxiously asked John the same question: “Who are you?”. John answered by saying who he was not (which is just as important as saying who you are). Then he said, “I am a voice….” It was enough. He was a voice speaking of God, a finger pointing to the new thing that God was doing in the world. That was his deepest identity.

To be precise this was his identity, and also ours.
‘Who are you?’ ‘How do you see yourself?’ These are questions we ask one another to this day. But today we ask these questions especially of ourselves; ‘Who am I?’ ‘How do I see myself?’ In our complex world these are not trivial questions. There are many who are willing to offer us ready-made identities.

‘Among you stands one whom you do not know.’ We do not know him because we cannot get away with imposing an identity on him – though we try all the time. Jesus the Catholic, Jesus the Protestant, Jesus the Baptist….

Yes, John, we too are unworthy to untie the strap of his sandals. This statement of John is commonly understood as a statement of John’s humility. But it had bigger meanings for the readers of the time of John, when the gospel was written. It meant appropriating the right to marry a woman who belonged to another. (Deut 25:5-10; Rt 4:7).

By declaring himself unworthy to untie the straps of the sandals, the Baptist states that he has no right to steal the bride of Christ. Meaning to say, people should not mistake him for the Messiah or a prophet. There is nothing worth comparing him with the Christ. “I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. Only the bridegroom has the bride, but the friend of the bridegroom stands by and listens and rejoice to hear the bridegroom’s voice. My joy is now full” (Jn 3:28-29).

We share the same mission of the Baptist and it would be worth learning from him in our life and Mission, his attitude of being nothing more than a voice – being the Voice of Christ in the world.