Reading 1 1 jn 2:29-3:6
If you consider that God is righteous,
you also know that everyone who acts in righteousness
is begotten by him.
See what love the Father has bestowed on us
that we may be called the children of God.
Yet so we are.
The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Beloved, we are God’s children now;
what we shall be has not yet been revealed.
We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is.
Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure,
as he is pure.
Everyone who commits sin commits lawlessness,
for sin is lawlessness.
You know that he was revealed to take away sins,
and in him there is no sin.
No one who remains in him sins;
no one who sins has seen him or known him.
Responsorial Psalm PS 98:1, 3cd-4, 5-6
R. (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.
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.
Sing praise to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
sing joyfully before the King, the LORD.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Gospel jn 1:29-34
John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
He is the one of whom I said,
‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me
because he existed before me.’
I did not know him,
but the reason why I came baptizing with water
was that he might be made known to Israel.”
John testified further, saying,
“I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky
and remain upon him.
I did not know him,
but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,
‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain,
he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”
REFLECTION
by
Nancy Shirley
College of Nursing, Creighton University
Christmas Weekday
Solemnity of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (SJ feast day)
Today is the 9th day of Christmas! We are still very much in the Christmas season, yet the stores have taken Christmas off the shelves and reduced the merchandise greatly – Valentine and, in some stores, even Easter decorations hang. The truth is that the commercial part of Christmas is over yet the church calendar shows that we are still waiting for those three wise men to arrive at the stable. My nativity scenes still shine brightly – we are still waiting. In the traditional Christmas carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas, nine ladies are dancing (in additional to the eight maids-a-milking and all those birds!). Indeed, it is time for continued celebration; we should be dancing and thrilled with our Christmas gift, the baby Jesus. However, we must also think about the implications of that gift – are we going to keep it but stuff it away someplace and then on rare occasions we will “take it out” to ask for favors? Are we not even going to accept the gift and, instead, just leave it under the tree? Or, are we going to fully embrace it – basking in its bright light? Will we dance and sing and revel in our good fortune?
Our first reading focuses on us as children of God and the love of our Father that is so generously bestowed upon us. We are encouraged to act with righteousness and avoid sin. That sounds so simple on paper but actually living that is another story. We do not know “what we shall be” but know that we should have faith and have this hope. The last lines are somewhat of an enigma to me since we all do sin to some degree or another. Yet, “No one who remains in him sins; no one who sins has seen him or known him.” Will we never know Him? Rather, if we ask for forgiveness of our sins and strive for righteous actions, will we find that purity?
The responsorial psalm affirms that we “have seen the saving power of God.” I love the song (of course, a song) from Jeremy Camp that says:
And I have seen the healing hand of God
Reaching out and mending broken hearts
Taste and see the fullness of His peace
And hold on to what's being held out
The healing hand of God.
The gospel reading focuses on John the Baptist as do many at this time of year. I have always been curious about the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus. How did John not know Jesus if Mary knew John’s mother Elizabeth? I did some searching and found some wonderful connections – I can easily accept that differences in ages, distances and the difficulty in traveling then, in addition to John’s living in the desert contributed to lack of contact between the two. What I discovered was some interesting comparison of terms throughout the Bible. For instance:
John was the light; Jesus is the sun.
The Baptist was the voice, Christ was the Word.
One is the friend; the other is the spouse.
A consistent theme is John’s proclamation that he must increase and I must decrease. I loved that one source pointed out that the birth of St. John is celebrated on June 24th, in the moment of the summer solstice. From that point onward, daylight begins to reduce. On the other hand, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ is celebrated on December 25th, during the winter solstice. From that point onward, daylight begins to grow, to get longer. He does indeed increase as John decreases and those around realize that John is not the Messiah but rather the messenger. So must we decrease in ourselves as we allow Jesus to increase in our lives and all we do. Once we do, we can truly dance!!
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