1 John 2:22-28
John exhorts us to live under the anointing that has been given to us. The firstanointing we all receive is that of Baptism. This is the anointing of salvation. It isthe anointing that marks our conversion from a life of sin unto a life of holiness.This is a serious anointing and one that we must ensure we do our best in remainingfaithful to it. If we are not faithful to the ongoing work of conversion in our lives wewill become hypocrites!

22 Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoeverdenies the Father and the Son, this is the antiChrist. 23 No one who deniesthe Son has the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father aswell. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what youheard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Sonand in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made us: eternal life.26I write you these things about those who would deceive you. 27 As for you, the anointing that you received from Him remains in you, so that youdo not need anyone to teach you. But His anointing teaches you abouteverything and is true and not false; just as it taught you, remain in Him.28And now, children, remain in Him, so that when He appears we may haveconfidence and not be put to shame by Him at his coming.

Psalm

Psalm 98: 1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4
R: All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

1Sing to the LORD a new song, for He has done wondrousdeeds; His right hand has won victory for Him, his Holy Arm. (R)
2The LORD has made His salvation known in the sight ofthe nations He has revealed His justice. 3He has remembered His kindnessand His faithfulness toward the house of Israel. (R)
All the ends of the earthhave seen the salvation by our God. 4Sing joyfully to the LORD, all youlands; break into song; sing praise. (R)

I like John?s self-description, ?a voice crying in the wilderness, prepare astraight path for the Lord.? It captures something of the urgency of Hismission. The desert imagery of wilderness says the world is lost, hungeringfor the truth and hungering for deliverance from the plight of their sins.Jesus will be the answer to our prayers. He alone can deliver us from thepowers of sin and set us free to live for Him rather than for any other passions or gods. John is under no illusion that he is the answer to the problemof sin. He is quite clear that another who comes after him will be Messiah.This humility of John is essential for us toimitate if we are going to be effective and last-ing ministers of the Gospel. Without humility we will draw the glory onto ourselves rather thanto God. Without humility there is a big dangerthat we will make ourselves the focus of atten-tion rather than have it rest solely upon Jesus,who alone can save! So many ministries in re-cent years have come to grief largely becausethe virtue of humility was not honored and given place in leaders? lives. Leaders, more than any-one else, must make it one of their most impor-tant duties to daily cultivate the grace of humil-ity in order not to become too content in theirown glory.St. Catherine of Siena tells us humility isthe ?glue? or ?mortar? that binds all of the othervirtues. Without humility, the life that we build for ourselves, whether inthe world or in ministry in the Kingdom of God, will be fragile and proneto collapse. If we examine the ministry of Jesus, we will see that He doesnot take credit for all that He does; rather, He ascribes the glory and powerto His Father. Even Jesus knew the dangers of arrogance and pride andsought to work against them.I think that a good measure of the humility of a leader is that he or shewill never ask anyone to do something that they are not willing to do them-selves and, once in a while at least, actually do it. It is too easy to fall intoa certain complacency of expecting others to serve you because you are theleader. This is most unhealthy and is a situation to be avoided at all costs! -- Fr.Steve T.

REFLECTION QUESTION:

When I lead others,do Iseek to be the one to dothe worst jobs or do I hand them out to others? What does this say about me?

Holy Spirit,teach me until it is ingrained in my mind and heart that to be first in the Kingdom of God means to serve and not to seek to be served. I pray that You will give me the grace to seek to serve others at every opportunity.

Sts. Basil the Great andGregory Nazianzen,bishop confessor, pray for us