THE Good News is within us – within our minds and hearts. It’s the change that is happening within our lives, in the way we think about or perceive our everyday experiences and challenges. It’s the new way we feel towards others and about our selves. The Good news is our awakened hearts, our enlightened minds, our renewed spirits!
In the Gospel, John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People of the whole Judean countryside and all of the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. Change was happening within them: their hardened hearts were being softened; their mountains and hills of selfish egos were being made low; their rugged and rough ways were being straightened. The Good News was the transformation happening within them.
When we seem to give up on our selves or on each other, the Gospel reminds us not to be cynical, dispirited, or disheartened. We just have to keep on believing in our abilities to go beyond any despair, hurt, and disappointment. To do this we need to find people of intense optimism, courage, faith, and creativity. We need them to inspire us, to ignite passion within us, and to motivate us again and again.
John the Baptist was the prototype of this kind of person. His image in the Gospel speaks of
the depth and intensity of his character: a prophet who was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, who fed on locust and wild honey, whose clear-cut and single-hearted mission was to prepare people to receive the true Messiah into their lives. No wonder he had a great following! He was absolutely sure with what he wanted and magnetic in his vision for people: he was hopeful for them. Devoid of any self-glory, his sole purpose was to prepare the way of the Lord, to make straights His path.
Each one of us can become Good News for others when we carry in our hearts and follow the Good News himself – Jesus Christ our Lord. For us Christians, there is nothing more inviting and convincing than when we speak fervently about our faith in Jesus, of the new life He gives us through His baptism with Holy Sprit. Our intimacy with Jesus in the Holy Spirit can ignite joy, rebuild relationships, heal wounds, raise hopes, and energize bodies and spirits.
During this Advent season, let us be more conscious of the Good News happening within ourselves. Only through serene and intimate moments with God can we come to this profound awareness,a state of being which no material things, worldly pleasure or self-importance can fully give.
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Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas attended St. John Seminary in Camarillo, California and earned his Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. For twenty years, he has been in the parish ministry of large multi-cultural communities. Since 2002, he has been the pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles. Please email Fr. Rodel at [email protected].
