January 02, 2015
Memorial of Saint Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen
Gospel Jn 1:19-28
One of the crises that people from all walks of life today face is the war of identity. Many of us are confused, consciously or unconsciously because of the false front that we sometimes try to project. This happens because people behave in varied ways according to their respective motives.
I happened to be the thesis adviser of a group of undergraduate students who conducted a study on the factors that motivate prosocial behaviors of student volunteers during the siege. The results of their study revealed that the prosocial behaviors of the respondents were motivated by both egoistic motives (48%) and altruistic motives (46%). Altruism is known as an unselfish concern for others, while egoism is known as an act motivated by self-interest. Most often than not, we project an identity to satisfy our self-interest and to preserve our own ego.
In the gospel today, when the priest and Levites asked John the Baptist “Who are you?” he admitted and did not deny that he is not Christ. He had no difficulty answering the question because he was not bearing a false identity. He had the chance to claim greatness for his own sake, but he did not do so. He even described himself as unworthy to untie the sandal strap of the Lord. The humility that John had taught us is truly beyond compare. If we were in the shoes of John, how are we to answer this question, “Who are you?” What kind of identity do we want to project especially to people in authority?
We can start by looking at our own self with reference to the humility portrayed by John. In our limitations as human being, we pray and serve God for a while. After some time, we ask ourselves, how about me? Who will take care of me? Who will acknowledge my efforts? We get tired after getting involved in so many activities for the holiday season. We tend to dwell in this kind of emotions especially if we feel that we have worked very hard, but we never get an affirmation. Apparently no one is grateful for our work. This is the reason why we need to continue to pray and beg for God’s grace, the grace of discernment. It is only through God’s grace that we will be able to become fully aware of our own limitations and not fall into the trap that we ourselves have made. John is a Christmas symbol that teaches us how to open our hearts and receive Christ now that he is born. God is calling us to be humble like John and to imitate his self-effacing behavior. God is calling us to be holy so that we will be able to see our own weakness and danger of falling. To be able to open our hearts and respond to the will of God, we need to continuously seek him in our own humble way of living a consecrated and prayerful life.
Norma A. Baluca
Director, College Guidance Councelling Office
