A reflection of God

Gospel: Jn 1:6-8, 19-28

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121723.cfm

We find God through community and relationship. We can encounter God through those that point to God. God reveals God’s self through those who reflect the light, they are not the light, but they reflect the light onto others. God works through and with us. God is imprinted on us and creation.

In today’s gospel, John the Baptist references both an outer sign and action that we can see (water and immersion) and an inner sign and action that we cannot (God and healing). It’s this relationship between the seen and unseen that makes a sacrament. A sacrament involves an outer sign that reflects and shows something deeper that cannot be seen. With baptism, the water is an outer sign that reflects the inner healing of God.

John the Baptist states that what he is doing is strictly an outer sign and what’s more important is what is happening internally. He can point to God, but he is not God. He can reflect the light, but he is not the light. That “light” is not to be taken lightly. For the gospel writer, that light is the Word that makes all creation possible. The Word is the catalyst that makes and sustains existence. God is the thread throughout creation. That light would make itself fully manifest in the life of Jesus Christ. In Jesus, the external and the internal components of the sacrament would be one. Jesus is both the creator and the created. He is both God and that which points to God.

Today is the Third Sunday of Advent. The theme of this Sunday is Joy. Spend some time meditating today on the joy found through the Creator becoming the created to spend time with us. The Creator wanted to share in our experience; to live our struggle and striving as well as our joy and celebration. Slow down and find a way to be a reflection of the Creator for others.