Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Gospel: John 1:35-42.

It may come as a surprise to some but there exists within the Christian Church those who seek to highlight the messenger rather than the message. Yes, I know – very disheartening, but it’s true! And you only have to be up early enough to catch some televangelist programs you quickly become aware that some preachers like to highlight their own abilities and stories rather than focus on the person of Jesus. All very interesting…

I’ve been reflecting on this phenomenon over the last week as I begin the task of preparing to move to my new parish. I am reminded that there are often comments along the lines of “Oh Father, I just love your homilies”, or “Oh Father, I just love the way you say Mass”. All very flattering of course, but it’s never – never, ever, ever – about me and what I do. In contrast it is always – and must always be – about Jesus, the Word made flesh, the Word we hear proclaimed in this place each and every week as we gather in this building. That’s the important thing.

We are reminded in today’s Gospel of that very fact. We see, very clearly, in the example of John the Baptist and of Andrew that our task as Christian is not to big note ourselves but to point other people to the person of Jesus in order that they might have that which we already have – a relationship with Jesus the Christ. As John the Baptist puts it so eloquently elsewhere in the Scriptures, “I must decrease, so that he might increase”. The advent in the Christian world of the cult of personality, where the focus is on the preacher rather than on what is preached, is the antithesis of what we are called to as Christians. Whether the preacher is high or low – and it applies as much to the Holy Father as it does to me – if we focus too much attention on ourselves, then the message of the Good News of Jesus might get lost.

The challenge, however, is not just for those who are privileged to stand up in places like this to proclaim and preach the Word of God. It is a task that belongs to all of use that claim the name Christian. We are tasked, from the very day of baptism, to proclaim Jesus to the world so that others might come to share in that great gift we have been given. That is our task, and anything that gets in the way – including too much focus on the one delivering the message – needs to be avoided, lest we get side tracked into the cult of personality.

We must decrease, so that he might increase. It is always about Jesus, and never about us.