Readings : 1 John 2:29-3:6 , Ps 98, John 1:29-34
Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.
I HAVE SEEN AND I AM A WITNESS
As Christians our duty is to teach and bear
sincere witness to God’s commandments by our ways of life. This of course points
out the mission of the Church in proclaiming the word of God and our part in
this mission. Little wonder the Gospel passage today reminds us of how God has
called us all to follow Christ, the Lamb of God and Saviour of the world. For hen
John the Baptist in saw Jesus passing by he declared: ‘this is the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world... Yes, I have seen and I am the witness
that he is the Chosen One of God.’
Here John is pointing out the essence of
Jesus’ mission, whose coming was foretold by prophet Isaiah (49:3.5-6), telling
us about that great Servant of God, whose mission was to bring sinners back to
God. Consider this great task of Jesus, John introduced him as a Lamb of God
and not Lion and also described the Holy Spirit as a dove, not a hawk which is
more powerful.
why? Because, the Lamb is the most gentle,
harmless and loving creature of God while the dove is a gentle bird, a symbol
of peace and goodwill. So these images
tell us about the person and approach by which Jesus will carry out his
mission. Consequently, Jesus, the gentle Lamb of God, gently died for our sins,
so that we could live in joy and freedom of God’s children, teaching us to bear
authentic witness of this great event in our relationship with one another.
This is our vocation and mission for John said
in our first reading: You know that God is righteous then you must
recognise that everyone whose life is righteous has been begotten by him. So, to
all of us Christians, who have been called to follow Christ and have been
sanctified and blessed to be God’s people, who are reunited and brought
together from the world to bear the fruit of love and holiness of life. So that
we can be true and living witnesses of our faith in God, to proclaim His
salvation among the nations and the peoples of the earth.
Dear friends, like John we can say: I have seen
and I am a witness. For we have been entrusted with the great task of witnessing.
We are commissioned as Christ disciples to go forth and make disciples of all
the nations, making all peoples to be God’s children through His Church by the
power of the Holy Spirit. We are called to bear authentic witness of our experience
of God.
But how
can we achieve this task? The approach is given to us by John the Baptist, who
tells us to follow the way of the Lamb and the dove. That is, we are to be the
most gentle, harmless and loving children of God, we must be a symbol of peace,
compassion and goodwill. We are not to force people to believe in God by the
use of intimidation or force, and neither should we use any forms of tricks or
false persuasions.
All these methods do not usually lead to true
faith and love for God, and in fact they may cause people to turn away from God
and the Christian faith. Instead, we should love people and do our best in
living our lives with faith and holiness each and every moments of our life.
Because, if our actions and way of life do not match what we profess to believe
in, how can we then expect people to believe in us or in the Lord. For instead
of bringing others closer to God, we will only end up sending them further away
from God.
Therefore, as the year unfolds, we are all
challenged to live our lives as the Lord has taught us. We should put our trust
in the Lord and make him the center of our lives in every actions. We should
show love, care, compassion and concern for our fellow brothers and sisters
just as the Lord has loved us.
LET US PRAY:
Lord God, give us the grace and courage to bear authentic witness of your
Gospel in a world where people are confused and no longer pay attention to your
word. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a peaceful day
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