Readings - http://www.usccb.org/nab/011611.shtml
Last Sunday we ended the celebration of the Christmas Season with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Perhaps to help us decompress after several weeks of Christmas celebration (and before that four weeks of preparation for Advent) today we hear a reprise, this time from the Gospel of John of the story of the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus in the presence of John.
In the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), of course, this is presented in a very dramatic fashion: Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist, the sky opens up, the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus in the form of a dove and God’s voice is heard saying “This is my Son with whom I am well pleased.”
In John’s Gospel, this scene is much simpler. John simply sees the spirit descend upon Jesus in the form of a dove and declares him God’s son.
Now why would it be that John’s version would be so much simpler than the versions in the other 3 Gospels?
John’s Gospel seems at times to be a supplement or commentary on what was already present to the early Christian community in the Synoptic Gospels. For instance, John’s Gospel does not have an institution narrative to the Eucharist but the 6th chapter of John reads like a virtual commentary on the meaning of the Eucharist “Unless you eat my body and drink my blood, you will not have life in you.” “I am the Bread of Life that has descended from heaven,” etc, etc.
In the case today, John’s Gospel strips the story of the encounter between Jesus and John the Baptist to its essential points that here Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit and was first identified as the Son of God and we’re invited to see God’s presence without recourse to a great deal of miracles.
We certainly believe in the possibility of miracles, but we were in fact created by God to fashion this world according to the plan of God _without_ needing recourse to a great deal of miracles.
And that is good because most of us are not going to do too many great things, much less miraculous things and yet as we hear in the First Reading from Isaiah, God manifests his presence through us.
In the Second Reading Paul tells the Corinthians that we are all called to be Holy. Why? Because, God seeks to make Himself known to the world through us.
And that then brings today’s Gospel down to earth and invites us reflect on how we “manifest God’s presence” in the world.
Now by good fortune, I was asked yesterday to celebrate Mass at a parishioner’s house. The family happened to be Mexican but it could have been anybody really. I was invited to their house to celebrate a Mass on the occasion of the anniversary of their sainted Mother/Grandmother’s/Great-Grandmother’s death. And so there I came and they had set up a table for me as the altar and had borrowed or rented about 20-25 folding chairs from somewhere. They set them up in rows in the living room extending out into the kitchen. And in the first three rows put the little kids – the younger grandchildren and great grandchildren – who could never have known this lady except through the stories of their older relatives. And it struck me there that this woman had to “manifest God” in someway in that 15 years after her death the entire extended family in the Chicago area had gathered together in the homes of one of her daughters to celebrate this Mass in her honor. The family had clearly thought it important to remember her and remember her with this Mass.
And of course the question then can asked: How do we manifest God in our world, in our families, places of work or among friends? And it doesn’t have to be through great or overtly devotional things, though certainly teaching the kids their prayers is important and having a general respect for others, for family and for God.
But mostly we’re going to manifest God through our day-to-day actions. Did we choose to be nice rather than rude? Did we seek to make our world a better place? Or did we choose to not give a damn? And certainly we’re not going to succeed everytime. But do we try?
And I am positive that many good people will not have necessarily their family asking the priest to come over to their house to celebrate the 15th anniversary of their passing. That depends on the nature, customs, religious/devotional life of the family. But hopefully we will come to be remembered well. And if we fear that perhaps we won’t be remembered well, we can always change in a way that we can better “manifest God” in our world. Until we die, we are always able to change. And even after our deaths, perhaps through prayer and reflection of those who survive us, we can still be redeemed.
But we have to be known as people who are good or at least people who try.
Let’s then focus then on the question of how we “manifest God” in our world during the coming week and yes, if we can do better, let’s begin doing so, so that when we do die, we are remembered as people who did contribute to making this world a better place closer to what God intended, rather than having simply taken from this world without offering anything positive back.
May God bless us and help us to accomplish what God calls us to do.
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