John the Baptist is portrayed as devoted in his mission – to make Christ known. Yet the Gospel also portrays John as not being entirely sure who Christ Jesus is, saying twice, “I did not know him.” John is willing to let the Spirit open him to Christ’s Presence. To be both devoted in our mission and to not know the exact details of that mission is to be open to inspiration, insight.
Once upon a time deep in a forest there was a monastery filled with monks devoted in their mission – to make Christ known. In their prayer and in their labor they welcomed the Presence of God in all who came to visit. The monastery’s peaceful spirit was felt throughout the forest and was received as a powerful healing for the soul. In time though, a different spirit crept in to the monastery, a spirit of division and animosity and it was felt by all who visited. Fewer and fewer people came to the forest for there was little welcoming and less healing. One monk, greatly distressed at the loss, poured out his sorrow to his friend, a rabbi. The rabbi said he had recently had a vision about the monastery, “The Messiah is among your community,” said the rabbi. The monk was flabbergasted and laughed. “That is impossible,” thought the monk. “One among us is an Anointed of God?” Upon returning to the monastery, the monk relayed the rabbi’s vision and the other monks responded as he did, with laughter and disbelief. And yet, as the story spread among the monks, they began to grow more quiet with each other. Each began to wonder in his own mind if another among them embodied the Presence of God. In the space of not knowing which of them might be the Messiah, they began to consider that any of them might be. The divisions fell away as did the animosities. A renewed spirit of welcoming and healing returned. The monks began to look for ways to receive each other as a blessing; to serve each other in love. In time, one traveler and then another and still more made their way to the peace of the monastery and the surrounding forest. Their world was being transformed. All because they knew the Presence of God was among them.
May it be eternally said from our hearts to everyone we encounter, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and remain upon you.”
Prayer: Abiding Spirit, may I believe in the Presence of God within my self.
Question: In whom do I most need to see the Presence of God.
January 15, 2017 Gospel John 1:29-34 Second Sunday in Ordinary Time