LETTING GO

Our psalm response this weekend sounds so easy and yet is so hard, “Here I am Lord, I come to do your will.” John the Baptist teaches and learns a primary lesson of life this weekend in our readings — the time to let go! Everyone, from parents, to spouses, to siblings and even little ones have to learn to let go.

For John, pointing out Jesus to his followers, faces the moment when another comes to fill his position. Difficult as it is, John shows us how to do it well. After calling Jesus the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,” John admirably proclaims his new rank and place alongside Jesus. “A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.”

John will decrease as Jesus, God’s Son, increases. Jesus takes his superior role as the Messiah, a role that comes with much suffering and agony. Jesus will fulfill the suffering servant role of our first reading from Isaiah, coming for the forgiveness of sin. So, to our doing God’s will is to lead others away from sin and help them to grow in virtue and not to earthly attachments. With the gift of Baptism, we are all called to share as brothers and sisters in Jesus the call to lead others away from sin.

The singular word “sin” is used as a description of

Poverty, war, injustice, hatred, selfishness, dishonesty, killing, sexual perversion, violence and unnecessary suffering. Yes, we might blame or say that our sins are expressions of our participation in the sinful environment we live in. But by human nature, we all have a selfish nature that grace and discipline can control if we make the effort to do so.

the general state the world finds itself in. Poverty, war, injustice, hatred, selfishness, dishonesty, killing, sexual perversion, violence and unnecessary suffering. Yes, we might blame or say that our sins are expressions of our participation in the sinful environment we live in. But by human nature, we all have a selfish nature that grace and discipline can control if we make the effort to do so.

We also have the good example of others, as John the Baptist had when his followers, and even Andrew and James followed Jesus and led their brothers Peter and John to Jesus. The importance of people to people is an example, as we are all called to make Christ known to others. To be truly honest, most of us in our faith, hope and love would not be half of what that means, without the influence of others.

To let go of even our first toys and to share, to let go of our security of parents and go to school and college, to trust our spouses as he or she goes away for a few days for work; to trust in the greater power of God, to break an addiction - is all letting go!

Letting go requires humility, and John the Baptist personifies humility, leaving Jesus to carry out his mission to take away the sins of the world.

As Christians, we begin the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity this week, to pray that we might all be one faith, hope and love, as we strive to imitate Jesus Christ. As each one of us has diverse personalities, so we have diverse faith experiences and ways to show and share that faith. This week, we ask to let go of thinking and acting, as if ours’ was the only way to be. Someone once stated, “Happiness comes from spiritual wealth, not material wealth… happiness comes from giving, not getting. If we try hard to bring happiness to others, we cannot stop it from coming to us also. To get joy, we mut give it, and to keep joy, we must scatter it. Joy and Life need to be given and let go to gather more of both!”

When you have a problem letting go, think of Adam speaking to his children when they questioned him about why they had to leave the Garden of Eden. He looked at them and said, “Your mother ate us out of house and home.”