Jn. 1/29-34.

Background.
As part of their efforts to shred completely the tradition of the Epiphany/Little Christmas celebration, the litrugists celebrated the feast of the Baptism of Jesus last Monday. However, today's Gospel is nonetheless the Gospel of the Baptism. One must inquire from those responsible about the reasons for this inconsistency. The baptism of Jesus was a problem for his followers, as we have said before. John's disciples could always lord it over the disciples of Jesus: "Our master baptized your master, nah, nah, nah!" It also creates a problem for those hyper-orthodox Catholics today who so emphasize the divinity in Jesus that there is little room for his humanity. They are also boxed in by the phrase that Jesus grew in wisdom, age, and grace. Any suggestion that God might grow scares them. An authentic Christology, however, which sees Jesus like the rest of us in all things save sin, sees no problem in his listening to the Baptist and going through a ceremony of renewal and rededication before he began his public life. Did Jesus learn anything from the Baptist? If, like all humans, he grew in understanding and maturity, the only appropriate answer is that of course he did.

STORY
Once upon a time there was a young man who was charming, handsome, witty, and a great athlete. Everyone in his school adored him, especially one quiet, thoughtful girl who was too shy to talk to him. Someone told him about her adoration. He dismissed her with a laugh. She was pretty and smart, but not good enough for him. Eventually he married someone else and lived a life of noisy desperation with her. At their 25th high school reunion, his wife had become an ugly shrew and he himself was an overweight failure, his best days long ago on a football field. The quiet girl had become a famous writer and was the most beautiful woman at the reunion. Her husband was a successful doctor who told everyone that he would not have made it through medical school without his wife's support and determination. On the way home after the party, the one-time hero thought, very briefly, that he had failed to recognized what the shy and quiet girl really was. So too we often fail to recognize Jesus in those we encounter and for the same reason - we do not take the time to look.