Bulletins from 2023 (Page 7)

Some of the followers of Saint John the Baptist clung to the hope that John himself was the Messiah; obviously, Jesus’ followers (then and now) believed the same about Him. But it is not a case of one faction triumphing over the other. The disciples of Jesus (who eventually produced the gospels as we have received them) held John in the very highest esteem, as can be seen in this Sunday’s gospel passage: 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.’ John is hailed as the “last and greatest” of the prophets and even as the sole prophet of the New Testament. His message is clear: He points to Jesus and not to himself. As we leave the Christmas Season and observe these weeks of “Ordinary Time,” we can ask ourselves if we follow John’s example. Is it Christ to whom our lives point, or would we rather draw attention to ourselves?

The Feast of the Epiphany is a reminder to us that God is a God of surprises. Most certainly, the magi did not anticipate that their journey to the “newborn King of the Jews” would lead them to the backwater town of Bethlehem, where they found Jesus. It is also amazing that this revelation was made to foreigners, in keeping with today’s responsorial: All kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him (Psalm 72:11). On Epiphany 2023, we can also expect the unexpected; God seldom fits into the categories we erect. Neither does the Lord abide by the limitations that we attempt to place upon Him. There are epiphanies of God’s presence all around us and sometimes these are in people and situations that truly surprise us. In the same way, each of us is called to be to others real signs of the loving presence of God in their lives.