1st Reading: Isaiah 61.1-2a, 10-11
Response: Luke 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54
2nd Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5.16-24
Gospel: John 1.6-8, 19-28
Response: Luke 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54
2nd Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5.16-24
Gospel: John 1.6-8, 19-28
“Who are you?” John the Baptizer was asked the question. He knew the answer for he had been living it. From childhood he had been raised to the awareness that he was to be the prophet of the Most High, destined to go before the Lord to prepare his way. So he was able to respond clearly: He was the voice exhorting people to make straight in the desert or wilderness the way of the Lord, to cleanse their hearts.
“Who are you?” This is a good question to ask ourselves, especially in this season of Advent, a time of introspection and reflection on our own readiness to encounter the Lord and welcome him into our hearts.
In reply, one might identify himself as a Christian, meaning a follower of Christ. Then this begs the other question, the one Jesus asked of his disciples: “Who do you say I am?”
In life’s wilderness, fraught with difficulty and confusion, are we truly willing and determined to maintain the integrity of that identity that we claim: that of a disciple of the Christ?
A true disciple is one who is docile, eager to be taught and to learn, and willing to obey. An authentic disciple has the conviction to live the Christian life, through temptations pervasive in our culture, such as avarice, one-upmanship, and disrespect and exploitation of the other.
When we discover true Christianity in ourselves, we share the joy in the Magnificat, Mary’s prayer, where the prophet speaks of the same inner joy of fulfillment, of experiencing oneness with the Lord God: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.” -30-
