John to Jesus

The Lord’s greatest gift to us for Christmas is no less than his very person, as humanized by his power of love. This liberates us from the love of power, as personalized by Satan. The power of love, as opposed to the love of power. And this was initiated by John, who baptized with water, the baptism of repentance, followed later by Jesus, who baptized with the Holy Spirit, the baptism of transformation.

“What’s John’s baptism? It is a baptism of repentance, a realization of what we are doing wrong and a clear resolution to correct our bad behavior. What is Jesus’ baptism? It is an entry into grace and community in such a way that empowers us internally to do what is impossible for us to do by our willpower alone.” (From Connections for December 2015).

The three liturgical readings for today all inspire us to rejoice and be happy, for the Lord is our constant companion, who will lead us to eternal life.  But this will take much time, according to His plan, and we have to humbly accept it all the way. Through days and nights, weeks and months, years and more.…accompanied by joys and pains, light and darkness, successes and failures. But in the end, these crosses and crucifixions here on earth will be followed by eternal resurrection. The power of love is powerful indeed!

Not only that. Our crosses and crucifixions are precisely given to us as the opportunities in moving toward the power of love. As Jesus did it, so can we. This is the very reason why he became man, lived and died as he did, so that we, too, can be his disciples and follow his example.

Power of Love. Today’s First Reading exclaims: “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty savior; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love. . . “ (Zep. 3:17). In the Second Reading, Paul insists: “The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving make your requests known to God.” (Phil.4:6). And finally, John the Baptist assures us in the Gospel reading: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Lk: 3:16). This is the climax of it all.

But what does all this mean? Shall we just kneel, close our eyes, and wait, wait, wait?  No, no, no! The power of love means action, and not inaction. If through our freewill, we choose to be baptized by the Holy Spirit and fire, then we will not remain inactive but very active. And to actively love to the extent that we can, Again, the Gospel reading for today: “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.” (v.11)

There was this middle-class employee who, after a process of spiritual discernment, sent almost half of all his savings to the victims of the supertyphoon Yolanda. His heart was filled with compassion for those families whom he did not even know personally. This happened a couple of years ago, but it really affected their own lifestyle as a family. Today, they have not recovered financially, but his heart is at peace. With his wife and children, they are experiencing the power of love. When you ask the wife how she feels about all this, she smiles and says, “Ok, lang”. And when you ask the husband, he simply gives you a loving embrace.

How about this rich employer who finally went through an eight-day Ignatian retreat. God’s love and mercy is immeasurable indeed. The employer experienced a deep, profound conversion of heart and mind. The following week, he made the unexpected decision to raise the wages and salaries of his employees way beyond the minimum wage law to what we call a family living wage. After all, this is what our Constitution and the Church support. What a difference this has made in the lives of his employees and their families. They were profoundly grateful and felt like canonizing him as a saint sent down from heaven! Indeed, this is God’s law of social justice: a more equitable distribution of God’s resources. The employer and his family started to live a more simple lifestyle, as inspired by their loving God and Creator. Such is the power of love. But if we decide to be deaf to God’s call, then we end up with the opposite lifestyle: the love of power.

Love of Power. Consider this businessman who uses bribery so that he can escape from paying his taxes. He rationalizes this in so many ways and ends up being convinced that he is not committing a sin against God and his fellowmen. He even attends mass every Sunday and receives Holy Communion, with the conviction that he is okay. After all, he says to himself, this is what many businessmen do, as far as he knows, to get their businesses going. The power of money is simply blinding.

Our Christian country continues to suffer from widespread corruption. Our coming elections are very crucial indeed. Let us hold on to God’s ways, and keep discerning who are those that the Lord is calling us to vote for. Who are those that are genuinely motivated to love God and country? Those who are motivated by the power of love and not by the love of power! Let us support one another as God’s disciples, whatever is one’s institutional religion. Our common mission from our one and only Creator-God is love plus justice that will lead us to peace. Amen.