Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

"You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

Gospel Reading: Mark 1:7-11

This is what John the Baptist proclaimed: "One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

In today’s Gospel, we again hear the story of John the Baptist and the Baptism of Jesus.  However, this is really a story about humanities humility before God.  John the Baptist has a large following and some have already identified him as a great prophet.  Instead of exhibiting pride in the fact that he has this large group of followers, he humbles himself by acknowledging, “I am not worthy…”  We express this same message of unworthiness during the Mass to acknowledge that we too are not worthy of anything God has given us.  We are lowly sinners who must realize that our salvation is on our knees and not standing prideful on our feet.  John takes this level of humility to an extreme state when he states, “I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals”.  The Jews, who were fanatics about cleanliness, would never touch the feet of another person or even carry their shoes.  The job of carrying a person’s sandals was reserved to the lowliest of servants and this person was probably not a Jew.  John suggests that he is not even worthy enough to be the lowest of servants for Christ.  In stooping (i.e., kneeling) before Christ, we should acknowledge that we are not worthy to receive the love and the gifts for everything he has poured out for us.  Jesus, as the perfect model, also expresses a level of humility in the fact that he is baptized.  It is obvious that God is without sin and therefore does not need to be Baptized.  So why is Jesus Baptized?  He receives the Baptism to unite himself with us him in our own humility.  We become united with the Holy Trinity in this one Sacramental act; we are united with the voice of the Father, the Baptism of the Son and the descent of the Holy Spirit.  We become bound to all three persons of God when we find ourselves kneeling before God experiencing the joy of humility.  Every time we find ourselves truly humble on our knees before Christ, the heavens are torn open and the voice of God calls out, “With you I am well pleased.”  We become bound to Christ like the sandals on his feet.  We are unworthy, yet we are still united with him.  It is when we refuse to recognize that God is everything and our salvation, that we separate ourselves from his salvation and we deny the unity that was formed during our baptism.  It is when we put ourselves in the position of the crown on his head, that we try to elevate ourselves above Christ and we deny his kingly authority.

A Simple Prayer

Father in Heaven, I was joined to you in my Baptism;

Give me the grace of humility to recognize that it is through you that I am saved.

Yours in Christ

Michael Marcon