Sunday before Theophany, Tone 5; Theophany Eve; The Holy Martyrs Theopemptus and Theonas (284-305); the Venerable Syncletica
Read
2 Timothy 4:5-8; Mark 1:1-8
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
John the Baptist, he who was prophesized by Isaiah and Malachi, did not have concern for himself. All of who he was and all of what he said and did was about the promised Messiah. He is like a slave to the Lord, unworthy to untie his footwear. In his words which we hear today, “I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit,” the emphasis (shown even better in the original Greek) is upon the Lord and His actions when He gets here.
The Feast of the Theophany of our Lord is about our Lord being baptized by John for the sake of the fulfilment of the Father’s plan, the revelation of the Holy Trinity, and the beginning of our Lord’s the public ministry. In preparing for this feast, it would do us well to examine our lives in order to see where the Lord is present in our lives. Are we like John the Baptist for whom the Lord was everything? Is this even possible for us?
It is, of course, possible for each of us, in whatever state of life we live, to be like John the Baptist in this regard. Theophan the Recluse wrote: “Christian life is zeal and the strength to remain in communion with God by means of an active fulfilment of His holy will, according to our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the help of the Grace of God, to the glory of His most holy name.”
Wishing to please God is an important step. Fr. Bob Bedard, the founder of the Companions of the Cross, often stated that while the Lord is the one who leads in developing our relationship with Him, we do need to give Him permission to move within us. Once we begin to do this and continue doing this, He will move, and He will become our all-in-all. We will be able to love Him greatly by loving our spouse greatly, our children greatly, our neighbour greatly, the stranger greatly… In the words of John the Baptist: He must increase, and I must decrease.