Daily Gospel Reflection
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January 3, 2020
John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.”
And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
Reflection
I have always found myself drawn to those who are a little crazy—those who live their lives in pursuit of some ideal to the point of making them seem more than just a little peculiar. Great inventors, writers, philosophers, teachers, and saints always seem to be this way, and it is almost as though their convictions shine brighter through their eccentricities.
When I think of John in today’s Gospel, I imagine such a person.
We find in this passage a dramatic and staggering moment of recognition—a man who was undoubtedly a little crazy recognizes and proclaims Christ in our midst.
I first began to feel what it is like to be a little crazy when I started my two years of teaching third grade. Craziness is endemic to the world of eight year-olds. And sometimes that craziness becomes so contagious that you attend a third grade Halloween party dressed as Batman. I couldn’t help it.
Upon my arrival, the first student to recognize Batman as Mr. Graff had the immediate and uninhibited urge to proclaim it. Incredulous, the children soon discovered I was in fact their teacher and that I really was just crazy enough to join them.
When we recognize something amazing, we can’t help but to proclaim it to others. Let us not miss a chance to recognize the staggering moments when Christ enters our lives, and proclaim those moments to others. Though we might be seen as a little “crazy,” John (and my third graders) would be all for it.
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
Today’s feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus is another way for the Church to call our attention to Jesus’ identity, and to encourage us to call upon him.
When Gabriel visited Mary, the angel told her, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.” Similarly, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and explained Mary’s virgin conception. “You are to name him Jesus,” the angel told Joseph, “because he will save his people from their sins.”
Jesus’ name literally means “savior.” St. Paul writes to the Philippians that “God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
St. Bernard of Clairvaux was a great promoter of devotion to the holy name of Jesus. “To speak of it brings to the mind all that the name stands for,” he wrote. “To call on it calms and soothes the heart.”
There are many other references to the power of Jesus’ name in Scriptures. In the Acts of the Apostles, the name of Jesus healed the lame and brought the dead back to life. The holy name is a protection from the devil, who has been conquered by Jesus on the cross and fears his name. We conclude all of our prayers as a Church by praying in the name of Jesus Christ, for he promised that “whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you” (John 16:23).
The emblem or monogram of the holy name of Jesus—the initials IHS—is seen in many places on campus, including on the pedestal of the Statue of the Sacred Heart in front of the Dome. In the Middle Ages, Jesus’ name was written as “Ihesus,” so the monogram IHS contains the (combined) first and last letters of this name. The Jesuits have this monogram as the emblem of their order—it can be seen in the image of St. Ignatius of Loyola from the Basilica shown above.
On this feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, let every knee bend and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!