A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’”
In today’s Gospel reading, John the Baptist sees Jesus after he had baptized him. At the moment he baptized him, John recognized Jesus’ divinity in what God had revealed to him: “On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.” John gives testimony to Jesus’ divinity by saying of him: “A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.” John’s recognition that Jesus existed before him must have come at the moment the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus during his baptism. John continues to point to Jesus today as one of many voices of the communion of saints who direct our gaze to Jesus, the Son of God. For John to say that Jesus existed before him is to be aware of God’s eternal existence that permeates every moment of this life until the next, where we give glory to God in unending praise.
God, help me understand what John the Baptist recognized in your Son. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the child born of the Virgin Mary, the suffering servant who died and rose to new life, the Lamb of God present in the Eucharist—He is the one who brings us to eternal life through baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Lord, help me see today that you are eternally present in its succession of moments. Give me the grace to receive your presence and the knowledge to make within myself a temple of the Holy Spirit. As Servant of God, Archbishop Martínez said: “As divine love is eternal and its action constant, it is our part to have our heart always open to love, ready to receive the unspeakable gift.” Keep my heart open, Lord!
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.