All the Ends of the Earth have seen the Saving Power of God"

Today's Mass Readings

Today’s first reading (1 Jn 2: 22-28) and the gospel reading (Jn 1:19-28) are both attributed to the same apostle John. There are common ideas and themes that through both these writings. In today’s readings, for example, there is a definite attempt to clarify the role of Jesus in human salvation. As we shall see, understanding these readings have implications for our own salvation. In the gospel reading, John is trying to portray Jesus as the Messiah. While this may be obvious to us, in the time of Jesus, some people did think of John the Baptist as the expected messiah. Some people explicitly claimed this to be true. Thus, John make a clear attempt to get the confession from the mouth of John the Baptist himself, who says, “I am voice of one crying in the dessert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ (Jn 1:23) and “There is one coming after me whom you do not recognize… whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie” (Jn 1: 27). Thus Jesus is clearly projected as the Messiah. This was very important for John the evangelist to clarify because there were many people who claimed to be the messiah. Any mistake in this regard is not merely about mistaken identity, rather, it is about the lost cause of human salvation.

This bring us to the second reading. John’s community was facing division and strife because there were some people who were teaching heresy about Christ. They taught that Jesus not truly fully human and refused to acknowledge him as Christ. They perhaps points to other people as the messiah because 1 Jn 2:22, he calls such people the “antichrist.” Rather, John encourages them to remain faithful to what he had taught them from the beginning (vs 23).

Each of us believes in Christ. This is true. We are baptized in Christ and we remain in Christ. The challenge for us today is this – does my life, like the life of John the Baptist clearly reflect Christ? Only if Christ is clearly reflected in our lives can other people come to a clear realization of their own salvation. If our lives give confusing signals, then like the people in the community of John, we draw people away from their salvation.

As we keep the memory of two of the great bishops and doctors of the church, St. Basil the great and and St, Gregory of Nazianzen, let us pray that we will undauntingly faithful to our faith in Christ and that our lives will reflect the saving message of Christ.
- Fr. Satish Joseph