Monday, January 2, 2012

2nd January 2012, Monday, Weekday of the Christmas season before Epiphany

1 John 2:22-28 / John 1:19-28

All of us will have at some point in our lives face a major change.

A major change would involve a change in direction or a call to higher responsibilities or to answer a higher calling.

That would mean a change in the state of life, like from being single to being married, from being a laity to being a cleric, from being backstage to being forefront, etc.

We may even call it a change in identity, because we tend to associate identity with what we do.

In the gospel when John the Baptist was asked "Who are you?" he initially answered with who he was not, and eventually he gave an enigmatic answer - a voice that cries in the wilderness : make a straight path for the Lord.

That is a rather strange answer to the question of identity.

But as we think about it, the question of identity is enigmatic isn't it. Because identity is a mystery.

Because for us Christians, our identity is not about ourself but our identity is in Christ.

That is what the 1st reading tells us : we are anointed with truth and so we must stay in Christ who is the fullness of truth.

Hence our lives must be lived in the truth. To live a lie would mean that we would turn in shame when we asked who we are.

Let us put our confidence in Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Then we will know how to live our lives.