Encountering Christ

WORD 2day: Tuesday, before Epiphany

January 2, 2024 - 1 John 2: 22-28; John 1:19-28

The identity of Jesus, as both God  and Human, was a major issue of controversies in the early Church. The first reading we have today is an indication to such feuds that they existed. What matters finally, as John so rightly points out there, is not the philosophical and theological justification of who Jesus is; but the personal experience of the person of Christ - live in Christ, .

John the Baptist foretold the coming of Christ and pointed out when Christ really came. His prophetic gift gave him the privilege of understanding Jesus and identifying Jesus when he came. Today we would do well to pray for this grace... to identify Jesus when he comes so that the encounter may enrich our life and bring meaning to it. 

In varied ways, and specially in our neighbours, our brothers and sisters, and more specifically in those who are in dire need and helplessness, we are challenged to encounter Christ who is God, but who had deigned to assume or nature and live in the poor and the oppressed! Certainly if we cannot find in Jesus a person, a man who lived human and experienced all that he did, we cannot see the Lord in the persons who are around us. We would be missing a major half of what Christ really wanted to reveal to us. 

This week running up towards the great celebration of the revelation of God in Christ, we are invited to understand and appreciate the depth of God's revelation on a daily basis - let us remain open to the Spirit and strive to understand the real meaning of incarnation and its lessons for our daily life. Today, let us prepare ourselves to encounter Christ wherever we are.