Daily Gospel Reflection
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January 8, 2022
Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea,
where he spent some time with them baptizing.
John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim,
because there was an abundance of water there,
and people came to be baptized,
for John had not yet been imprisoned.
Now a dispute arose between the disciples of John and a Jew
about ceremonial washings.
So they came to John and said to him,
“Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan,
to whom you testified,
here he is baptizing and everyone is coming to him.”
John answered and said,
“No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven.
You yourselves can testify that I said that I am not the Christ,
but that I was sent before him.
The one who has the bride is the bridegroom;
the best man, who stands and listens for him,
rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.
So this joy of mine has been made complete.
He must increase; I must decrease.”
As a mother of three young children, I’m seeing my life simultaneously decreasing and yet increasing. Over the last five years, sippy cups, spills, cheerios, questions, and crumbs have increased. At the same time, I’ve seen a decrease of clean floors, quiet time, my plans, and my way. In the mysteriousness alluded to in today’s gospel, I have been blessed with more laughter, nature walks, sword fights, stories, random kisses, and unexpected snuggles; less loneliness, idle time, and discontent.
Today’s gospel reminds me of this mystery of following Christ: “that lest a grain of wheat fall to the ground and die, it remains a single grain. But if it dies, it produces a rich harvest.” (John 12:24) It brings me great joy to read St. John the Baptist’s words, “So this joy of mine has been made complete.” He is content and happy.
St. John’s mission, his whole life’s purpose, has been fulfilled in the public ministry of Jesus. He knows who he is and what he is about. He is more than satisfied with his role to decrease so that Christ may increase!
John the Baptist is our friend and model for how a Christian ideally responds to the invitation of Christ’s presence in our lives—to become less and yet by decreasing to become more.
And somehow, through God’s grace, “our joy is complete.” Once we decrease, emptying ourselves of our sin and pride, we become disciples living in the freedom that only God our Creator can provide. For, “No one can receive anything except what he has been given from heaven.”
Jesus, give us hearts open to you and your gifts—soft and malleable and ready to receive that we may become more like you.
Prayer
Loving God, send us your Spirit so we may recognize your works. Enable us to hear and see your Son and our Brother Jesus in our daily encounters in school, home, workplace and everywhere. Help us to be like John the Baptist as we proclaim, “He must increase; I must decrease.” Amen.
Saint of the Day
Our Lady of Prompt Succor is a title under which Mary is honored uniquely by the people of New Orleans. When Louisiana was still French territory, Ursuline nuns arrived to educate the children of the territory—the children of the French colonists, the Native Americans, and the local Creole people. Louisiana changed hands between the French and the Spanish governments, but, in 1800, Louisiana came back under French control. Anti-clerical and anti-religious sentiment was running high among the French in the wake of the French Revolution, thus many of the Ursulines fled to Havana.
The head of the remaining Ursulines in New Orleans, Mother Saint Andre Madier, needed more sisters to come aid the struggling convent and Lousiana mission. She wrote to her cousin in France, another Ursuline, Mother Saint Michel. She pleaded with Mother Saint Michel to send more sisters. Mother Saint Michel knew that this was going to be a nearly impossible request: due to the persecution of religious men and women during the revolution, France was itself experiencing a shortage of sisters.
Feeling that she had to aid her cousin as much as possible, Mother Saint Michel wrote to a French bishop, requesting a transfer of French sisters to America. The bishop referred her to the pope.
Pope Pius VII was a prisoner of Napoleon, thus his access to mail was extremely limited, to say the least. Mother Saint Michel sent her letter and prayed in front of a statue of the Madonna, vowing to have Mary honored in New Orleans under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, if she would grant her letter a speedy and favorable response. Just over a month later, Mother Saint Michel received a letter from Pope Pius VII granting her and several sisters permission to go to New Orleans.
In December of the next year, Mother Saint Michel arrived in New Orleans with a crew of postulants and the statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor. They placed the statue in the chapel of the Ursuline Convent on Chartres Street in New Orleans, where it is still honored today.
The image to the right and below shows a mosaic honoring Our Lady of Prompt Succor in the Ursuline Convent garden. The mosaic was created in 1997 by the Florentine artist Sergio Papucci. Around the border, it names two of the famous miracles in which Our Lady of Prompt Succor has interceded for the people of New Orleans.
In the fire of 1812, as the fire was approaching the convent, the sisters begged Our Lady of Prompt Succor for her intercession, and the fire shifted, sparing the convent. It was one of the few buildings in the old French quarter preserved from the flames. In 1815, on the eve of the Battle of New Orleans, the sisters prayed throughout the night with the American troops for their success in battle against the British, who more than twice outnumbered them in manpower. On the morning of January 8, the sisters offered Mass in their chapel for the American army. In the middle of Mass, a messenger arrived announcing the defeat of the British, who had gotten lost in the swampy area outside the city. Ever since, a Mass of Thanksgiving has been offered to Our Lady of Prompt Succor on January 8.
Our Lady of Prompt Succor, who always desires to aid your children in times of need—pray for us!
Image Credits: The image of the statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor in the Ursuline Convent chapel is by SICDAMNOME and was last accessed November 14, 2024 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). The image of the Battle of New Orleans mosaic, "Our Lady of Prompt Succor," was taken by Mike Young of Mike's Travel Guide. Used with permission.
