St. Mary Catholic Church

DeKalb, Illinois

RCIA SESSIONS IN THE PRESENTATION ROOM OF THE PARISH OFFICE FROM 7:00-8:30

For class dates and more information, click here.

Last week we celebrated the
Baptism of the Lord and recognized
our INVITATION to follow Jesus
into the waters! We heard the Gospel
of Matthew with John trying to
prevent Jesus, but permitting Jesus to humble himself according the Father’s will. Today’s testimony is from the Gospel of John. John the Baptist proclaims: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” He proclaims this to us at every Mass as we prepare ourselves to come toward the altar!

Again we see the humility of John who acknowl- edges that Jesus “existed before” him and he says, “I did not know him” (the greatest born of woman!?) WHAT ABOUT US? Do we think we have God figured out?
John continues: “The reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” John was a servant of the Lord, not working for his own recognition, but working for the Lord; that others might recognize the One who can help them. “John testified further, saying, ‘I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and remain upon him. I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ Now I have seen and testified that he is the
Son of God.”

We need John’s demeanor and disposition: serv- ants of the Lord who look to the Father for guidance in making the salvation found in Christ known to others. We see this in St. Paul in our second reading: “Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God ... to the church of God ... to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy.” Paul had preached to the Corinthians & remained with them for a while. Later, in his absence the faithful had been divided by “new teachers”. Paul writes this letter to heal wounds of division and to call for union of faith. In order to be effective messengers they needed fidelity to the message. Each of us is called to be a messenger, in union with the Father’s Will in the manner He wills and because He (who is Love & Truth & Life) wills it! May Our Lady obtain for us the humility and discernment to avoid anything that is not from our Heavenly Father