In our readings on this Saturday after the Feast of the Epiphany, we are blessed by hearing the faithful voices of two different Johns — the Evangelist Apostle, and the prophet Baptist—two very blessed and anointed witnesses of our Lord Jesus Christ who saw and touched his glory.
We get an insight to what a profound relationship with God is when in the first reading we hear the Evangelist saying: “We have this confidence in him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”
Confidence. Trust. Listening. These are all fundamentals in any given relationship. If even one is lacking, the partnership struggles. We can reflect and ask ourselves when the last time we confidently asked the Lord for anything was, and if it was according to his will, how and when did the Lord answer the prayer. This is a good little exercise we can often employ in our day-to-day prayer because it allows us to keep a memory of the wonderful way God is such an essential part of our lives.
Saint John the Evangelist continues with his radical distinction between the world and the ways of God. He admonishes us to stay clear of the world and its ways. He boldly points out how, “We know that we belong to God, and the whole world is under the power of the Evil One.” Yet we don’t always listen. The allurements are often hypnotic and the Devil knows how to set up one mirage after the other, an oasis in the desert of our life. We let down our guard, and the master-charmer is able to tempt
us, one onslaught after the other, until we give in. This is why it is so important for us to keep trying to do our best when it comes to prayer.
In the gospel, the disciples of Saint John the Baptist are worried. They’re worried that Jesus is now getting more attention than their master. They haven’t yet been blessed with the illumination of their hearts and minds. Have you been blessed with the knowledge of who Jesus actually is? If yes, rejoice and give him praise because that’s exactly what the Baptist does here. He reprimands them and reminds them that he had repeatedly clarified that he is not the Messiah, and that Jesus is. Saint John says his joy is now complete.
Wow, his joy is complete! How often do we continue to seek happiness and joy in the wrong places. Jesus alone makes our joy complete, but mysteriously, we often give him little time in our lives. It could be our fallen human nature, the accumulation of the effects of our sins, the habitual turning away from grace even when we are in a state of grace, and a number of other things, but our life’s work consists in embracing Jesus more and more by loving him through our deeds and helping others to find the same joy that we have found in Him alone.
Some of us are still at the stage where Jesus is the nice guy down the street who makes us feel good once in a while just by his very presence and goodness. This is
good, but it has to be so much deeper and profound than the momentary delights. A soul that is in love needs to feel immersed in the object of its love. But we remain aloof. Why?
In the coming days, let us take the plunge, like those who went to be baptized with Jesus. Let us continue to taste and see the goodness of the Lord. Amen.
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