Daily Gospel Reflection

Who Are You?

Hi, I'm Matthew Kelly. Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where we're exploring the genius of Catholicism, the genius of the Gospels, and how they apply to our lives. Today's Gospel comes from John 1:19-28. We hear about John the Baptist. And this is the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" He confessed. He did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" And he answered, "No." They said to him then, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"

He said, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord," as the Prophet Isaiah said. Now, they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, "Then why are you baptizing if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" And John answered them, "I baptize with water, but among you stands one whom you do not know. Even he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." This took place in Bethany, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. So remember, we're looking for a word, a phrase, or an idea. The phrase that pops out at me today is, "Who are you?"

They ask John the Baptist, "Who are you?" And I think it's a good question for us to ask ourselves. Who are we? What is the image we hold of ourselves? Because it affects the way we see God. It affects the way we see other people. So who are you? How do you see yourself? What is your identity of yourself? And do you see yourself as other people see yourself or as your parents saw you? Or do you see yourself as God sees you?

What's really fascinating to me here is that they ask John the Baptist, "Who are you?" And he doesn't say, "Oh, I'm this," or, "I'm that," or the other thing. He quotes Scriptures to describe himself. Okay. He quotes the Scriptures. He goes back and says, "Hey, I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the path as the prophet Isaiah said." And so his image of himself is very, very closely tied to how God sees him. And the more we see ourselves, the way God sees us, the more we'll be able to take the gospel into our lives, live it in our lives, and share it in relationships. So the idea of today or the phrase of today, "Who are you?" Let's think about that today.

The virtue of the day is trust. John the Baptist had this astounding trust. He saw himself as God saw him because he'd been listening to the voice of God in his life over and over and over. And that's what we're trying to do here each day. We're trying to listen to the voice of God in our lives. That's why we're not trying to understand the whole reading. That's not our role here in this exercise. We're just trying to hear the voice of God in our lives through a word, a phrase, an idea, and a virtue. Have a great day and remember, don't just be yourself. Be the very best version of yourself, all that God created you to be.