Reflection for Monday January 2, Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church; John 1:1-18

Gospel: John 1:1-18

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.

But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.

And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only-begotten Son, full of grace and truth.

John testified to him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’” From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only-begotten Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.

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Reflection:

We pale in comparison to John the Baptist in every aspect of his humble and virtuous life. John has every opportunity to claim greatness but he was not tempted by the sudden fame. He instead remained humble and did not claim honor that was not due him.

How about us? Are we humble enough to let others take credit for an endeavor which was partly realized with our help? It’s very tempting to ego trip and take credit for it but the gospel is telling us that we must be humble at all times. We must not take credit for any achievement that is not ours.

John teaches us that true greatness before the Lord is to humble ourselves before Him. Never mind the adulation or praises of the crowd for these are just temporary and passing. 

Never mind if others are taking credit for the good that you’ve done. Let us always be reminded that God is not sleeping He sees everything that we do. Not only that God sees us; God also know what is in our hearts.

If we want to mature in our faith, we ought to emulate John’s discipleship; his humility and his self-effacing attitude for these are the qualities that would help us grow in faith and wisdom. -  Marino J. Dasmarinas