Today's gospel story may seem out of place ... we have already passed the celebration of the birth of Jesus and heard the Baptist's story. However, today, we might look at one aspect of the young preacher's message: KNOW THYSELF. How often have we heard this two word sentence?John's words are a challenge that we know not just who we are but who we are NOT. This means that we have to understand who we are not, what we are not rather then who we think we are or who we think others want us to be or how we want them to see who we think we are.
The Jews who were speaking with John about the promised Messiah were simply trying to find out if John was the one, the long-awaited Messiah. Right up front John denies that he is this person long-promised to the people. And this is the challenge he offers us: not to let our egos get in the way of what we are trying to do in our lives.
John clearly sees his mission: I am not numero uno. I am simply the messenger who has the mission of making ready a people to welcome the Messiah. Because John is a man of great humility it is not difficult for him to make clear from the outset who he is NOT. He can reply to the Jewish officials asking him about his messages, his baptism of repentance. He immediately withdraws any doubts about his role. He is not the Messiah.
From this reading today we are challenged to look at our own self-awareness -- who am I? -- and what role we have in life -- what is it that I am doing? Like John our own baptisms call us to be like John, messengers of a gospel message that touches every one's life.
Today's photo: from Flickr files.
