Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen
Jn 1: 19-28
This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water.
Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Knowing I Am Not God
It is important to know who one is, and who one is not. In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist makes clear to those who question him that he is not the Christ, but one who makes a way for him. Simply put, he is not God.
I, too, know that I am not God. And yet, this Gospel makes me confront the way I live. In truth, I continue to struggle with believing that I can and should be able to “do it all”—and to do all of that well. Many of us know the secret pride of being busy, productive, and on top of everything.… and yet underneath this can be an idolatry that does not acknowledge our human limitations and makes no room for God’s spirit to work in our life.
As we begin this new year, this Gospel challenges me to surrender again in humility, admitting that I am not God.
—Christine Curran is the executive director of the Ignatian Spirituality Project, a Jesuit ministry providing spiritual retreats and companionship to people in recovery from homelessness and addiction in 20+ cities.
Prayer
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in me, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Christ with me.
—Excerpt from the Deer’s Cry (Breastplate of St. Patrick)