Lead Me Lord

Today’s Gospel Text:  As the people were in expectation, and all men questioned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he were the Christ, 16 John answered them all, "I baptize you with water; but he who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."18 So, with many other exhortations, he preached good news to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Hero'di-as, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that he shut up John in prison. 21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form, as a dove, and a voice came from heaven, "Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased." Lk 3:15-16, 21-22 

Reflection: There are many who question in their hearts rather than ask the person concerned.  Fortunately in the case of John the Baptist, it seems, he knew what was in their hearts. 

So we have a situation where the people question in their hearts; this is a natural process for every human being.  But there can be three categories of people here: 

1. Who consult only their hearts and nothing more because they are wise in their own eyes
2. In the second category, the heart which is the meeting place for many voices is consulted; these voices could be the many forms of advices, admonitions and earthly wisdom, which includes our learning’s from the worldly wise and above all the evil one and we arrive at our conclusions based on the earlier studied categories and yet may, many a times, not give credit to anyone nor know, but assert it is our own and the world will also have us believe that.
3.  In the third category we may have the above categories as in pt. 3 but such wisdom maybe discerningly stored in hearts, here we have the Holy Spirit to help us to rely on divine wisdom to arrive at perfect decisions.

Therefore a heart that is attuned to God through the Holy Spirit is also attuned to his word that flows from any mouths – this is an objective reality but subjectively difficult to enumerate on account of the mysterious ways of God’s working in our midst.

Though difficult, one can do so if one seeks to follow the gospel in its true spirit and with a sincere heart, with help from the Holy Spirit who has been given to us in baptism for this very reason. (cfr. Ezek 36:26-27)

Hence they had the answer to the many questions in their hearts but were every heart satisfied with the answer that came forth to them.

May be not, it depends on our sincerity with which we ask and the nature of the heart.  If God is the center of our search for truth and truth is the center of our search for God then it would not be difficult for us to know the truth because God himself is pleased with such hearts to reveal his glory and self.

    

You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, says the Lord, Jer 29:13-14a

Prayer:  “Lead me in thy truth, and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation; for thee I wait all the day long.”  Ps 25:5

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Blameless Heart

Today’s Gospel Text: Philip found Nathan'a-el, and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." 46 Nathan'a-el said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." 47 Jesus saw Nathan'a-el coming to him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" 48 Nathan'a-el said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." 49 Nathan'a-el answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" 50 Jesus answered him, "Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these." 51 And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." John 1:45-51

Reflection: It’s good to ask questions and enquire about a problem before arriving at decisions.

So often in life people arrive at decision making without asking relevant questions or they may ask the wrong kind of questions in order to arrive at wrong kind of knowledge.

But the one thing to be always kept in mind is the human limitations of arriving at the right answers always, especially when it comes to the truth of God.

In the Gospel we have Philip approaching Nathanael with a proposition:"We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." (vs. 45)

Philip had done his homework well, he knew the scriptures and knew the background of Jesus of Nazareth, as the son of Joseph. Perhaps he knew a little more than what he was revealing to Nathanael!

Nathanael had an equally relevant question to ask Philip, it was in every way a scriptural question, which may have flummoxed many an experts in Israel. 

The only difference may have been is this; that Nathanael may have asked this question in all sincerity without any guile: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (vs. 46)

It now seems clear that these were honest seekers, sincere in their approach. God never disappoints a sincere seeker, who is really interested in knowing the truth and following it.

According to the John’s Gospel, Nathanael seems to be the first to recognize Jesus as the ‘Son of God’ 

We too need to ask God for the same disposition of heart as Nathanael, whose feast we celebrate today.

Prayer: May my heart be blameless in thy statutes, that I may not be put to shame! Ps 119:80

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