Most Holy Name of Jesus : Friday 3rd January 2020

John the Baptist points out Jesus as the Lamb of God. In John’s Gospel, he appears more as a witness to Jesus’ presence than a Baptizer. Thus, John 1:19 -34 begins with the affirmation, “This is how John appeared as a witness” and ends with John’s own words “Yes, I have seen, and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.

John’s Gospel does not record Jesus’ baptism but refers to it when “John also declared: I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him” (Jn 1:32), John witnessed to Jesus as a man filled with the Holy Spirit, one on whom the Holy Spirit rested.

The material about John the Baptist in (Jn 1) can help us to reflect on our faith journey and some of the inherent obligations of our faith. As John pointed out Jesus to his two disciples, we may reflect on our own coming to Jesus.

Many of us, of course, are “born Catholics”, and it was our parents who dedicated us to Christ by having us baptized after our birth. We should be eternally grateful to our parents for this gift of grace. Others came to know Jesus as adults because someone guided them to him. As Jesus was a man filled with the Spirit, so, too, we must be genuinely spiritual people.

We are people who have received the Holy Spirit in Baptism and Confirmation and who should live out our faith with a heart always open to the promptings of the Spirit so that we can guide others to Jesus and the grace of salvation.

Lord Jesus, as you have called us to be your disciples, grant that in all things we will be real channels of your saving truth.