(1 Jn 5: 14-21; Ps 149: 1-6a, 9b; Jn 3:22-30)
Both of the readings for Mass today are filled with the Holy Spirit. The words come alive right on the paper and imprint themselves into the inner recesses of your heart. They are living words, filled with grace, truth, and Spirit. Perhaps this is why the scriptures are called “sacred.” They are not ordinary words, but holy in a way that the temporal world can not reveal to us, even through the most beautiful forms of literature, because these words are from the breath of God.
Truth flows through these words in the first reading for Mass today:
“And we are in the one who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
The last words John spoke in the Gospel today do not seem related at first glance, but they are, because they flow from the same Spirit:
“No one can receive anything except what has been given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I am not the Christ, but that I was sent before him. The one who has the bride, is the bridegroom.”
“The one who has the bride, is the bridegroom.” In this context, we are the bride of Christ. We belong to Him. Do these words make you uncomfortable? If you are a man, then maybe you don’t feel like a “bride”, if you are a woman, then perhaps you are already “married” in the earthly sense. It could make some of us uncomfortable to realize the intimacy and depth of love that Jesus Christ personally has for us. But Jesus “knows” us more profoundly than any other person in our lives, including our spouse, parent or best friend. He knows the deepest recesses of our feelings, experiences, faults, sins, shortcomings, but also our strengths, gifts, talents and abilities. He loves us in spite of our imperfections, just like our loved ones and friends do.
You can feel John the Baptist’s deep love for Jesus Christ shining through all of his words in today’s gospel, but most especially in the last few verses:
“The best man who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. So, this joy of mine has been made complete.”
John the Baptist was completely filled with the Spirit when he spoke these words, of his love for Jesus.
This is a good thought to have for the rest of the day today. How often do we say “I love you” to the ones we love? For some of us, the words come out awkward and difficult. For others, they flow easily, freely, but without the depth of the Spirit sometimes. Loved ones, spouses, children, parents, etc., know when we are just saying the words, but without the Spirit of love flowing through the words.
Our loved ones also know we love them without saying a single word sometimes. How? John the Baptist gives us a clue in today’s Gospel when he said:
“He must increase, I must decrease.”
What humility are in these words! Six little words show us the true nature of love. Unselfish love. Genuine love. Pure, undiluted holiness is to set yourself aside, forget yourself, and allow another to shine. To genuinely love another person, is to will the good of the other person.
That is worth repeating. Genuine love – is to will the good of the other person.
So many people need to be in the limelight, receive the credit, attention from others, praise, and approval. We need to feel like we are important and have accomplished something important, or have something very important to say. But – so do others. For once, it wouldn’t hurt us to let them shine, instead of ourselves.
This is the most beautiful lesson that John the Baptist teaches us in today’s gospel. Perhaps it is also the reason that Jesus said that there was no greater man born of women, than John the Baptist. He was great, because he let Jesus shine, instead of himself.
It would do us all a lot of good to look for opportunities to set ourselves and our egos aside, and let another person shine brighter than ourselves.
