January 17: Preparing to Celebrate Sunday’s Mass / Preparándonos para Celebrar la Misa Dominical

There is hardly a more consistent thread running through all four Gospels than the effort to reveal the identity of Jesus Christ. Until His identity is confirmed, what He “does” is left begging for meaning. Until then, He is just a carpenter from Nazareth. 

The Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke begin by presenting a Genealogy through which they begin to answer the question “who is this man?” Midway through St. Mark’s Gospel, after dropping numerous clues, Jesus Himself asks, “Who do people say that I am?” In this weekend’s Gospel, St. John (1, 29-34) goes straight to the issue by having St. John the Baptist announce the identity of Jesus. "He is the one on whom God’s Spirit comes to rest like a dove." His Baptism, then, is the defining moment that sets the trajectory of His life and begins His ministry. Not until that moment is it really clear what and how His life and His mission will unfold. So, He speaks with authority and He reveals God with powerful signs and words because He is the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the long-awaited Messiah.

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What does this have to do with us? As a people Baptized into Christ, our mission is to become so like Him that others might recognize Him in us. The only way this is possible is if we listen to Him and learn to follow Him by making our thoughts, words, and deeds align with His. And all of that can happen because we trust His presence in our lives, we communicate with Him often by prayer, we hear His words in our assembly at the Eucharist, and we consume His Body and Blood. As Saint Augustine said about our identity: “We become what we receive.”

Perhaps this can become the most consistent thread running through our lives: Knowing that we, too, are beloved by God, that we are called by God, and that we have a mission to be God’s presence to everyone we meet – especially those who seek His face.

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Aunque estamos en el ciclo “A” de la Iglesia (y sus lecturas dominicales), leyendo el Evangelio de San Mateo, algunos domingos escuchamos extractos del Evangelio de San Juan (como hoy: 1, 29-34). Digamos que miramos al mismo Jesús desde distintos puntos de vista.

Sería muy poco, o por lo menos incompleto, quedarnos con el hombre – Dios o en el Dios – hombre de Belén. Jesús no solamente es un líder destacado para gran parte de la humanidad ni, como algunos otros pretenden, sólo la bandera de ese gran ideal que el mundo, por sí mismo, es incapaz de alcanzar: Jesús es “Salvador” de todo aquel que acepta su Palabra, su Gracia. Los cuatro Evangelios nos dicen que no es suficiente observar a Jesús con ojos humanos. Como nos enseñó San Juan Bautista, es necesario, si no queremos quedarnos a mitad de camino, contemplarlo desde la fe, ya que viene a salvarnos cargando con la fragilidad de todos.

Gracias a la Santa Palabra de Dios, sabemos lo que podemos hacer para ser mejores, y estamos llamados por Dios a intentarlo. Que nuestra alegría por ser sus hijos e hijas se note, y se convierta en luz que pueda alumbrar las sombras del mundo.