DGeMS

Christmas Time,  Tuesday, 2nd January,2018  (Jn 1:19-20,23-28)

Dear Friend in the Lord,

John the Baptist: In today’s Gospel, John is the “voice that cries in the desert to ‘Prepare a way for the Lord.”  Reflect on your daily living and ask yourself, “As I begin this year, 2018, how is God’s Spirit inviting me to live a more wholesome and Christ-like life?”  “How should I bring Christ’s Peace to my family and loved ones?” 

Fr Philip Heng, S.J

This was the witness of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He declared, he did not deny but declared, ‘I am not the Christ.’ 

He said, ‘I am, as Isaiah prophesied: A voice of one that cries in the desert: Prepare a way for the Lord. Make his paths straight!’ Now those who had been sent were Pharisees, and they put this question to him, ‘Why are you baptising if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah, and not the Prophet?’ 

John answered them, ‘I baptise with water; but standing among you - unknown to you - is the one who is coming after me; and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandal.’ This happened at Bethany, on the far side of the Jordan, where John was baptising.

TODAY'S POINTERS ON GOD'S WORD
As you read the passage what words, phases or meanings caught your attention?

• •John openly declared to the Jews that He was not Christ but the one chosen to prepare them for His coming. He thus considered himself unworthy even to “undo the strap of His sandal.”  
  
  
• •To be a faithful and steadfast witness for Christ, we too must actively prepare others to know Him, not only by our words but concretely through deeds of love, compassion and peace with everyone. 
  
  
• •Have you helped others to know God?  How is Jesus challenging you to live your life for Him?  Have you said “yes” to Him?