REFLECTIONS TODAY
Today marks the close of the Christmas season. Fittingly enough, we hear of the final witness of John the Baptist. John’s Prologue says of him, “He came for testimony, to testify to the light… He was not the light, but came to testify to the light” (1:7-8).
John repeats what he has declared to those who asked him whether he was the Messiah, “I am not the Messiah, but that I was sent before him” (v 28). He talks of his role as shoshben, “the friend of the groom,” the best man who in Jewish tradition arranges the wedding.
As the competition between the groom and the best man is unthinkable, there is no competition or rivalry between Jesus and John.
Here, a motif used in the Old Testament comes to the fore. The covenant relationship between God and Israel is likened to a marriage.
God loves his people, and though his bride— Israel—had been unfaithful on several occasions, God does not abandon the people. Jesus as the “groom” has come to heal the covenant relationship and invites God’s people to a wedding feast.
Epiphany or “The Manifestation of the Lord” does not just cover the visit of the Magi but also refers to Jesus’ Baptism in the Jordan and to the Wedding at Cana. And it has the wedding as motif.
The antiphon to the Canticle of Zechariah at Vespers declares, “Today the Bridegroom claims his bride, the Church, since Christ has washed her sins away in Jordan’s waters; the Magi hasten with their gifts to the royal wedding; and the wedding guests rejoice, for Christ has changed water into wine, alleluia.”
How is our spousal and covenant relationship with the Lord, as bridesmaids or groomsmen? Are we ready to enter into the wedding banquet?
First Reading • 1 John 5:14-21
Beloved: We have this confidence in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, we know that what we have asked him for is ours. If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly.
There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly. We know that anyone begotten by God does not sin; but the one begotten by God he protects, and the Evil One cannot touch him.
We know that we belong to God, and the whole world is under the power of the Evil One. We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us discernment to know the one who is true.
And we are in the one who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Children, be on your guard against idols
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, for John had not yet been imprisoned.
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.”
Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2025,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.