💖 HOMILY - JANUARY 2 💖

First Reading - 1 John 2:22-28

Gospel - John 1:19-28

Do we recognize Christ? Do we know Christ? We have a huge range of information about Christ from before the birth to the ascension of Jesus. We can know about Christ from the sources available but that may or may not give us personal experience of knowing Him. The readings of the day pose a challenge to each one of us to go deeper into a more intimate relationship with Christ.

In the first reading, we hear about the Antichrist. Who is the antichrist? The person who is a defectors, or those who left the faith in Christ, or those who doubted that Jesus is Christ. They became an antichrist because they didn't have the experience of Christ but only had information about Christ but failed to translate that into deeper faith and conviction. This reading underlines that all those who have embraced faith in Christ are given grace to know Christ provided they stand firm in faith and remain faithful to Christ.

The gospel reading emphasizes on the role of John the Baptist as the voice in the wilderness or precursor of the Messiah. He was mistaken for the Christ, for according to Jews, the Messiah was to be a revolutionary and John fitted well to that expectation but he asserts that he is not the Christ. Jews expected a Messiah. They too had pre-conceived ideas of the Messiah, a stereotyped image of Christ. They couldn't think beyond that framework and failed to place faith in Jesus.

My dear friends, God gives us grace to deepen our relationship with Him. Though we have not seen Him but He reveals himself to us through various ways - spiritual and daily events. Do we recognize Him? Do we know Him? We have various sources to know about Him but He wants to us deepen our relationship with Him. Let's not miss any occasion to stand firm in our faith to see Him reveal Himself. May we prove ourselves true and faithful followers of Christ through our faith and conviction in Him.