As I look out on you today, I’m aware we know each other on various levels. You who are with family members obviously know each other very well. You who sit in the same pew each week often know the parishioners immediately around you. I know the names of many of you as we have shared ministries and life experiences and friendship with each other. I must confess I recognize almost all of you but unfortunately I don’t know everyone’s name.
The more time I am privileged to serve as your pastor gives me the opportunity for greater recognition. The greater recognition comes from more experiences we share in common. I always value the opportunity of getting to know you better.
Today’s Gospel speaks of recognition, faith-filled recognition -- recognizing the presence of Jesus in our midst. John the Baptist affirms his recognition of Jesus: “I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.” At what level do you recognize Jesus in our lives? Do we call Jesus by name? In what situations do we recognize Jesus? My hunch is that in some situations we recognize Jesus and in other situations we do not recognize His presence.
As we pray over today’s Gospel, we prayerfully ask how we recognize Jesus who is always present to us, and how do we, like John the Baptist, enable others to recognize Christ?
As important as these two questions are, we need to be immersed in the prior issue that God has recognized us. From the first Scripture reading from the prophet Isaiah: “I, the Lord, have called you. I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you as a covenant of the people; a light for the nations.”
The Gospel recounts the Baptism of Jesus in the Gospel of John. The Baptism of the Lord invites us to reflect on the meaning of our Baptism. In baptism, God has first recognized us. God has graced us. We are a people loved by our God even before we recognize Christ in our lives. God has first loved us.
As we are steeped in the awareness of God’s love for us, we ask ourselves how do we recognize Christ in our lives?
How do we help each other to recognize the presence of Christ Jesus in our lives? We are to be John the Baptist for each other – to point the way to recognize the presence of Jesus.
As it happens, I have presided at four funeral liturgies parishioners this past week – Don Maggio, Joan Montgomery, Marjorie Edmeston, and Bob Burns. I was inspired by their family members that even in their immense grief, they trusted that their love ones were with God and experiencing the fullness of God’s eternal life. They helped me believe in the profound truth that in dying we are born to eternal life.
I am inspired by you as you live out a spirituality of stewardship in living out your discipleship of Christ Jesus.—a stewardship of time, talent and treasure. Our stewardship of time leads us to a life of prayerfulness in which we live life with an attitude of gratitude, aware that the blessings of our lives are a gift of God. Our prayer is our conversation with God as we listen and are open to God’s plan for our lives. May we even value silence in the way we pray and still ourselves in God’s presence. In the words of the psalmist: “Be still and know that I am God.”
A stewardship of talent affirms our commitment to use our God given talents in the service and love of one another. We are at our best as a parish community when we are proactive in our service and sharing with one another.
Our stewardship of treasure in which we share from our financial resources for the building of our parish ministries. Yes, our check book is part of our spirituality. What we do what we have speaks volumes our discipleship of Jesus. For example, we are at 99% of our CMA goal of $230,000 to serve the needs of our diocese. That is a testament to our generosity.
Next weekend is our Stewardship Commitment Sunday in which we ask you to place in the second collection the stewardship commitment card you received in the mail this week. May our giving not be a burden but an opportunity to serve and make a difference in our parish life. As we have been the recipients of the generosity of parishioners who have preceded us, may we do our part in witnessing to the love of God in all the ways we share ourselves with each other.
The nation is about to celebrate the birthday of a national hero – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On Monday, we celebrate the liberation of our whole nation from our enslavement to injustice, prejudice, and hate. We must confess that King’s dream “we are free at last” has not been fully realized but Monday’s observance will help us keep hope alive. In the words of Dr. King’s constant message: “There is still hope for a brighter tomorrow.”
We need to recommit ourselves to God’s original plan in creation. We have a solidarity with all people. In the deepest sense, there are no foreigners and immigrants among us. We are all God’s people. We are brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.
As we prayer over the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, as we celebrate the grace of our baptism – that grace which is lifelong and forever, as we anticipate our participation in Stewardship Commitment Sunday next weekend, may the memorable words of Dr. King inspire our faith journey: “There is still hope for a brighter tomorrow.” In fact knowing that the spirit of Jesus is still very much our spiritual center, that the baptismal grace of God’s love still enlivens our spirit, the hope of a brighter tomorrow is God’s promise to us.