Jesus is the Christ

Gospel Reflection

At that time,

John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord to ask,

“Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”

When the men came to the Lord, they said,

“John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask,

‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’”

At that time Jesus cured many of their diseases, sufferings, and evil spirits;

he also granted sight to many who were blind.

And Jesus said to them in reply,

“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard:

the blind regain their sight,

the lame walk,

lepers are cleansed,

the deaf hear, the dead are raised,

the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.

And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”

Luke 7:18b-23

Today we remember St. John of the Cross, Carmelite priest and Doctor of the Church.

It is in John of the Cross that we learn the way of the cross in its most practical path, and how the cross could lead us to a much robust faith, and would bring us to kaginhawahan in Christ.

To deny our desires, and instead to choose a simpler way of life and choosing others over ourselves is to carry our crosses. That is why for John of the Cross, the darkest nights of our lives is not a burden but a way for us to learn to embrace our crosses with true love for God and for others. 

That is what we heard in our readings from Luke, which is about how John the Baptist, who was in prison and to be executed also learned to embrace his cross through the enlightenment that he received from Christ.

Perhaps John was already doubting because just like all Jews during his time, they were waiting, they were desiring for a Messiah who will overthrow their enemies - politically and with military might. But that is not who Jesus was.

Jesus was instead preaching about reconciliation, about forgiveness, about humility, about submitting oneself to others, about self-sacrifice, and about love.

And so John asked his disciples to go to Jesus and ask him if he is truly the one sent by God, or if God would be sending someone else. 

In times when we are in the darkest moments of our life, we could not help but seek God's presence, to ask if God is truly with us, if he truly heard our cries, our pleas, our prayers. How come you are deaf to my prayers, Lord? We probably asked. We would look for that light that seems to be blinking, about to die off, getting weaker, dimming. 

That was what John the Baptist was experiencing at that time. He was in prison, fearful of what would happen next. He must have doubted if his efforts truly bore fruit, if there was meaning in what he did all his life, in his dedication to his mission as the precursor of the coming of the Messiah. Lord, save me. He must have called out.

Having witnessed the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus and having heard the voice of God, proclaiming Jesus as His Son, John was beginning to doubt. How come nothing is happening. 

He was in the darkest moment of his life. And he was about to die. 

How did Christ assured John that He was truly the one sent by God? He quoted the prophet Isaiah (Is 35:5-6) when he declared the works of the Chosen One - giving sight to the blind, allowing the lame to walk, cleansing the lepers, the deaf to hear, the dead to rise, and the poor proclaimed of the Good News.

Jesus is the light at the end of the darkest tunnel and in the midst of the our crisis in faith, in the midst of our difficulties and of the burden that we are made to carry, let us remember that Jesus Christ has truly died, has risen back to life, and rose to the heavens. And truly he promised us salvation, kaginhawahan for all of humanity.

And his promise will never be forgotten.  

Believe, have faith. 

By embracing our crosses just as John of the Cross embraced his cross, let us allow these crosses, this dark night that we are in at the moment to prepare us for the coming of Christ. Let us allow these crosses to remove our desires, our worldly ambitions and wants, and accept the blessing that could only come from God, the light in the darkness. 

 

Image: Cherry Laithang on Unsplash