Daily Gospel Reflection

Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.

January 3, 2024

Wednesday Weekday of the Christmas Season
Jn 1:29-34
Listen to the Audio Version

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 the sky
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.”

Reflection

Cathy (Miller) Bernasek '94
ND Parent
Share a Comment

In today’s reading, I’m moved by (and in truth, maybe a little envious of) how clear the sign of the Holy Spirit is for John the Baptist and the confidence with which he can fulfill his important role in history.

As I entered my fifties a couple of years ago, I found myself asking more anxiety-inducing questions. As the years seem to go by more quickly, I wonder more if I am making choices that will bring me closer to or take me further away from God’s calling.

I would like to be more open to the work of the Holy Spirit to reveal answers to these questions. Sometimes, I experience calmness as I can let go and trust that Jesus accompanies me on this unfolding journey. In other moments, I remain much more restless and agitated at being pulled in many directions.

In the story of John the Baptist, we don’t hear about anxious feelings about when the sign will come to indicate that Jesus is in his midst. We don’t get any sense that worrying about the time of this sign gets in the way of his daily ministering to all the people who are not Jesus.

What habits of anxious thinking and distraction challenge us from realizing the small and large choices God is asking us to make each day? On the flip side, what are the daily habits, such as carving out quiet time to pray and reflect on prayer, that make us more present to the signs of the Holy Spirit in our lives?

I pray that we are present today for your signs, Lord. Continue to stir our desire to adopt the daily habit of pausing to pray and orienting our hearts to you so that we can be more present to experience what you are asking of us in this life.

Prayer

Rev. Steve Lacroix, C.S.C.

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

Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus

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 below.

On this feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, let every knee bend and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!