Final Witness of the Baptist

Today's Reflections 

 

                       

Final Witness of the Baptist 

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Jn 3:22-30

²²Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea, where he spent some time with them baptizing. ²³John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there, and people came to be baptized, ²⁴for John had not yet been imprisoned. ²⁵Now a dispute arose between the disciples of John and a Jew about ceremonial washings. ²⁶So 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.” ²⁷John answered and said, “No one can receive anything except what has been given him from heaven. ²⁸You yourselves can testify that I said [that] I am not the Messiah, but that I was sent before him. ²⁹The 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. ³⁰He must increase; I must decrease.”

He must increase; I must decrease. In discernment and prayer, we are taught to consider not just ourselves but others as well. In fact, spiritual writers say, effective prayers are the ones that are directed to others.

This discerning attitude is seen in John the Baptist. When his disciples tell him that Jesus is also baptizing and many are coming to him, John sees the plan of God. And he rejoices in the event that, indeed, salvation is in the offing. He says, “So this joy of mine has been made complete.”

The writer of the First Letter of John shares us a secret: “And we have this confidence in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (First Reading). The right starting point of praying is God’s will, not ours. When we pray, we ought to abandon ourselves totally to God. We are warned to look at our selfish interests, to be on guard against evil and against idols.

This sensitivity to God’s will should make us rejoice with other Christians in our collaboration with one another as we carry out our ministries and pray for one another. We do not compete in our parishes or transparochial ministries because we know that the more there are workers in the Lord’s vineyard, the more God is glorified.

“Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me”

(Gal 2:20a).