A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
Priests and Levites asked John: “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?” He said: “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”
What priests and Levites (and later, Pharisees) ask John, they would later ask Jesus in so many ways? “Who are you?” They might also have asked John “By whose authority do you baptize” ask they asked Jesus “By whose authority do you cure the sick and drive out demons?” The questions strikes at the core of one’s identity: John’s identity, Christ’s identity, and by simple extension, my identity. “Who are you” that you practice your faith by following the teachings of the Church that Christ instituted and the magisterium? I can readily say I don’t have an answer as clear and authoritative as John’s: “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’”
God, help me understand these readings that again focus on John the Baptist, as the readings have throughout Advent. Lord, who is John that I should listen to him? He said of your Son: “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” Help me take to heart John’s words, as relevant then as now in recognizing Christ’s presence even in his apparent absence: “but there is one among you whom you do not recognize.” Out of the desert comes a voice free of distraction, of modern-day entertainment and comforts, of the contemporary bombardment of things material and electronic that constantly demand attention. Thank you, Lord, for the voice of one crying out in the desert who through detachment of the things of this world made straight the way.
Lord, today is not straight but winding and bumpy. Through your grace let me be ready to answer the question that I ask of myself and that others ask: Who are you? Help me recognize you today in the words and actions I choose in answering that question.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.