Daily Gospel Reflection
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January 15, 2023
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.’
I did not know him,
but the reason why I came baptizing with water
was that he might be made known to Israel.”
John testified further, saying,
“I saw the
Spirit come down like a dove from heaven
and remain upon him.
I did not know him,
but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,
‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain,
he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”
“Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God” is the result of John witnessing a miracle with Jesus. John stated plainly that he did not know who would be coming after him, but he immediately recognized Christ as the Son of God.
As humans, we seem to need more than one miracle to convince us of our faith and trust in God, but John immediately recognized and trusted God’s new reality.
Our trust is constantly tested in the reality of our lives. When we trust God, we know God will be with us through our hardships. Realizing we don’t have to go through life alone and that God is with us every step through good times and bad really makes life manageable.
The most remarkable example of this for me in my life has been through the adoption of my youngest daughter, Yenifer. Faith and trust that her adoption would happen if that were God’s plan have carried me to this day in her journey, which two years ago took a challenging turn.
Being the youngest of eight in a loving family gave Yenifer emotional and relational support for her special needs. But as the bigger kids grew up and were leaving home, it became evident that Yenifer, now 16 years old, would be forever challenged with her autism. Combined with certain mental health struggles, it’s been excruciatingly challenging at times to discern the best path forward.
And this is where faith comes in and the recognition of the Holy Spirit descending into our lives to lead our journey. I know we are in good hands.
Prayer
Almighty Father, John the Baptist saw Jesus approaching him and recognized him as your Son. Open the eyes of our hearts, that we might see the face of Christ in our brothers and sisters, especially in the poor and lowly of the world. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Paul the Hermit was forced to flee to the desert to survive, but ended up living there an amazingly long time.
Paul was born around the year 230 in Egypt to an upper-class Christian family. He was well-educated, but left an orphan at the age of 15. The persecutions of Decius began a few years later, and members of his family planned a scheme to seize control of his property by reporting him as a Christian to the authorities. He fled both his family and the authorities by going into the desert and living in a cave.
The hermitic lifestyle suited Paul well and he spent the rest of his 113 year-long life surviving off fruit and water and wearing leaves. He spent most of his time in prayer, and a legend tells of a raven bringing him bread for sustenance.
St. Anthony the Abbot, who is traditionally credited with formalizing the monastic movement, visited Paul and became friends with him. (In fact, Anthony’s feast day lands in two days.) When he died, Anthony buried Paul in a cloak that was given to him by St. Athanasius, and it is said that two lions helped dig the grave. The two friends—Paul and Anthony—are depicted in murals in the Basilica on opposite-facing walls. St. Paul’s image includes the bread-bearing raven, and his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Paul the Hermit, who lived nearly 100 years in the desert on little more than prayer, pray for us!