Gospel: John
3:22-30
Jesus and his disciples went into the
region of Judea, where he spent some time with them baptizing. John was also
baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there, and
people came to be baptized, Now a dispute arose between the disciples of John
and a Jew about ceremonial washings. So 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.” John answered and said, “No one can
receive anything except what has been given from heaven. You yourselves can
testify that I said that I am not the Christ, but that I was sent before him. The
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. He must increase; I
must decrease.”
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Reflection:
What usually is the common downfall of
those who preach about Jesus? It’s to present themselves bigger than Jesus. It’s
to sell his /her teachings than the teachings of Jesus. They use Jesus as their
vehicle so that they could reach their selfish objective rather than advance
the objectives of Jesus.
John did not experience any downfall in his
mission as the precursor or herald of Jesus. His disciples always looked-up to
him with respect because never did he advance himself, Jesus was always first
in his mind. This is the reason why John said, He must increase and I must
decrease (John 3:30).
John was content to be in the background,
he rejoiced as he humbly erased himself from the limelight so that Jesus could
be in the spotlight. This is so difficult to do! To give way when we actually
could have our own way!
Many of us have this mistaken notion that
to be respected we always have to be in the forefront. To be respected our voice must always be heard
and we must always be popular and visible.
But John proves us all wrong because even
if he decreased himself and even if he faded away for the sake of Jesus. His
acts of humility remains to be one of the biggest guiding lights of our time.
Are you willing to be like John? – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
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