TRUE HERALDS OF CHRIST

We receive gifts wrapped in different manners. Some are wrapped simply while others pompously. One of our brothers last Christmas Eve received a gift wrapped beautifully. Everyone thought it contained a great gift, for the wrappings and the box used was very attractive. Everyone held his breath, as the brother unwrapped his present.  To everyone’s dismay, it was just a ball pen. Another brother received a gift placed in a matchbox. Many thought it was a simple gift for the box was too small to contain a significant gift. The brother opened it and everyone was amazed. It contained a gift certificate worth more than the agreed price for the gift from his monito. Wrappings can be deceiving.

Today is the Baptism of the Lord. This celebration ushers in the beginning of Christ’s public ministry. The Father introduced him to us as His only begotten Son. After thirty years of formation and silence under the tutelage of Mary and Joseph, Jesus went out from the carpentry of Joseph to minister to the whole of Israel and indeed to all humanity. What a great gift Christ has become to us. Through Him, we have received eternal life. Through His baptism, the waters of the earth were made fit to wash us from our iniquities. Though not a sinner, Christ was baptized, so that we who are born sinners may be truly cleansed by the water he made holy.     

Who brought us this gift? Who paved the way of the Messiah? His cousin, John the Baptist prepared the way of the Lord. John can be likened to the wrappings that kept the people in suspense for the One who will come and baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire. What kind of wrappings is John the Baptist? Is He simple, pompous or deceiving?

John is a humble herald of Christ. He did not attract attention for himself. He directed people to Christ who is coming after him. As John baptized Christ, John fulfilled his role to introduce Christ as the One they have been waiting for. In the simplicity of his lifestyle and faithfulness in the vocation God entrusted to him, the humble John the Baptist became an effective herald of Christ.

Like John, we too are called to be heralds of Christ; wrappings and boxes that will bring Christ to our families, offices, and communities. What kind of wrappings are we?  What kind of heralds of Christ have we become? Are we getting to much attention for ourselves so much so that people miss the good news we ought to convey to them and instead see the glamour of our lives? John can be our model and inspiration in becoming heralds of Christ. Humility was the mantra of John in his life: “I must decrease. He must increase.”

Humility will make us effective heralds of Christ. Humility is being truthful about ourselves. Humility comes from the word humus meaning soil or dust. Is that not a primordial truth about us? We are from dust and to dust, we shall return. In front of the majesty of God, who can boast among us? (God owns and created everything in this world, including us. We own so little in comparison to that of God). All that we have, except sin and weakness, comes from God. How can we be boastful in front of God? Be humble, therefore, that Christ may increase; that people may see Jesus and not the glamour of our life.

But beware not to fall to what we call false humility. False humility is the hesitation not to receive attention or credit when these are due to us with the intent of attracting more attention for ourselves. I had a friend who was asked to sit in a place of honor in an event, being top of his class. He begged not to, saying he is not worthy of that seat. In the process, a lot of members of the faculty department went to him to convince him that he deserves the seat. He attracted more attention. If he simply sat in that seat of honor, there could have been no commotion before the program.

Genuine humility is rooted in truthfulness about ourselves (seen with a grateful heart). John kept reminding people: I am not the Christ; I am not the Messiah; I am a herald of Christ. Are we humbly faithful in the truths about ourselves? We have been bathed with the waters of baptism. We have become adopted children of God on whom the favor of the Father rests. This is our true identity. Are we faithful parents, godparents, brothers, sisters, friends, and Christians to each other? Are we faithful in the identity we received when we were baptized?  Have we become faithful to our baptismal vows: to reject sin, to reject Satan and all his works and empty promises? Do we believe in one God or have we created our own gods? Faithfulness in these truths of our lives (seen with a grateful heart) will lead us to become humble heralds of Christ and not fancy wrappings that deceive.