Thursday of the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s Scripture readings have some “sound bytes” that I have found most meaningful in my prayer life. Isaiah’s profession of faith today says, “For it is you who have accomplished all we have done.” What a beautiful thing for us to remember. This one statement, if we integrate it into our prayer life, will keep us from both false humility and excessive pride. Because we have no right, when we are called by God to do something, to say, “Oh no, I could never do that.” That might be absolutely correct, but it’s still completely meaningless. If God calls us, he will make miracles happen from our willingness to follow. For it is he who has accomplished all we have done.
And we have no right to be puffed up and call attention to ourselves, and say, “Now look how wonderful I am.” Because the really good things that we do we could never possibly do on our own: whether that’s becoming a priest and preaching the Word, or becoming a parent and raising children, or whatever our vocation consists of. That we are willing is cause enough for celebration, but let’s not forget to celebrate the miracle that happens when God does what he needs to do in us. For it is he who has accomplished all we have done.
And the three verses in our Gospel reading are verses that have long stuck with me. I have an old Bible in my office that my aunt gave me when I was probably in high school, so like a million years ago! That Bible has these verses outlined in ink because I went back to them so often. We all go through trials sometimes, but we can never give ourselves to despair because our Lord is so willing to help us shoulder the burden, and longs to give us the rest we all need to recuperate from the world’s trials. All we need to do is to come to him for that rest, and to be willing to take up the burdens he offers us, knowing that we will never shoulder them alone. For it is he who has accomplished all we have done.
Sphere: Related ContentThe Birth of St. John the Baptist
“What, then. will this child be?” That question from today’s Gospel is certainly key for the celebration of the birth of St. John the Baptist, but definitely also appropriate for all of us too. At the birth of John the Baptist, the Incarnation was starting to get noticeable. God’s plan had already been worked out with Mary and Joseph and Elizabeth and Zechariah. But now their relatives and neighbors were starting to see things happen. Unusual things. Like the birth of a boy to a couple way too old to be starting a family. Naming him something that no one in their families had been called. It’s no wonder that people were starting to notice the mystery and asked “what, then, will this child be?”
And that’s a question that’s important for all of us. Every time a new child is born, we might wonder what their life and their world will be like. This Sunday, I baptized seven children and I couldn’t help but wonder where life would take them. What, then, will they be? Because we all have a purpose. Just as John the Baptist was called from his mother’s womb to be the forerunner of Christ, so we all have a call – very much from our mother’s womb – something God has always intended for us to do. It is, of course, the great project of our lives to work that out. And we must pray daily for the discernment necessary for us to know God’s will so that we would be what God intended. That’s the only way we can be really happy, I’m convinced of it.
We are all, as the Psalmist says, wonderfully made. We are all called to live a prophetic life that gives witness to Jesus Christ, just as his cousin John the Baptist did in his life. When we finally embrace God’s will for us, that’s the only time we can be truly free. Just as finally accepting God’s plan and naming the child according to God’s plan freed Zechariah’s tongue. God’s will in our lives is never constrictive: it is freeing, and when we freely choose to follow, we can never be anything but happy.
This wonderful feast of John’s birth is really a tradition. Just like we don’t know the exact day of Jesus’ birth, John’s is not known either. There were no birth certificates back then! St. Augustine was the one who taught that this should be the date of John’s birth – six months before Jesus was born. And he was born near the summer solstice, at the point where days start getting shorter, while Jesus was born at the winter solstice, at the point where days start getting longer. This mimics John the Baptist’s statement in John’s Gospel that “He (meaning Jesus) must increase, and I (meaning John the Baptist) must decrease.
What, then, will we be? Where will God’s will take us? God knows. So we just pray for the grace to receive it, so that we can be really, truly free. Because when we decrease so that Jesus can increase, great things can and will happen.
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