This reflection comes from Sunday’s Gospel, John 1:6-8, 19-28
John the Baptist’s response to the question “who are you?” can tell readers something about the call of God.
I believe there was a desire by the priests and the Levites to proclaim John a unique case: this man is a prophet, this man is Elijah, this man is the Christ. John adamantly denies these titles to be John a member of the Jewish people who is hoping for the coming of the Christ.
When we find ourselves called by God, we find that many people, friends and family alike, will not understand our love for God, or we may even struggle to know His love for us.
This is a relationship that unfolds overtime; requiring trust, hope, and faith.
Yet again, others may see us people of faith as something either non-sensible or something that must be explained away. This might be because it is scary to face not only God but ourselves.
John knew that he was John the Baptist, one sent by God to testify, to make straight the way of the Lord.
This Sunday let us ask ourselves, “who am I?” The answers we find may unsettle us, for as Isaiah and John found, we may find that we are lone voices crying in the desert: not prophets, not Elijah, not Christ.
But let us ask then Jesus, the God who sent us, “who am I?”
It is in asking that we are asking God how “how do you see me?” We might be surprised to find that, in our own unique way, we are individuals trying to make straight the way, prophets pointing others to Jesus, or individuals testifying to the light of God.
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Halen Gamino is a Residential Aspirant with the Brothers of the Christian Schools, living in community and ministering alongside them as he discerns God’s call in his life. He currently lives and ministers in El Paso, Texas.