He Must Increase
Saturday After Epiphany, Year II
2009-01-10
John 3:22-30I’m sure none of you has ever done this.
But, when I was younger, I used to get a little hungry around 4 or 5 in the afternoon. Sure, I knew that the family would have dinner in a few hours, but, I just needed a little something to tide me over – perhaps a donut, or a Snicker’s – you know, that good, healthy food.
I didn’t bother asking mom, because I knew what she would say. “No, honey. You’ll spoil your dinner.”
So I just helped myself. It started with just a few cookies…and maybe a tiny bowl of ice cream. Oh, great! There’re still some Doritos left!
Well, it wasn’t long before “you know what” happened. I spoiled my dinner. My stomach was only so big and I filled it with junk food.
Yes, mom was right. Isn’t it funny how that happens?
I paint this little picture to better illustrate a key concept we hear in today’s Gospel reading.
John the Baptizer says to his followers “He must increase; I must decrease.”
In other words, it would be better now that they fill themselves with Jesus, than with John.
You see, the spiritual food that John was feeding his followers may have been tasty, but it lacked the substance of that food which Christ offered…and still offers today.
Now, I’m not comparing John to a Hostess Twinkee. But, what I am saying is that even today, we have in choice of what we “eat,” what we spiritually feed upon.
The world serves up some tasty dishes: lots of deep-fried sugary sweetness, lots and lots of empty calories. Every day a veritable “buffet of indulgence” is laid before us. And, of course it’s all-you-can-eat!!
It can be mighty “tempting.” (Pun intended.)
As you probably guessed, I’m not talking about food…I’m talking about those things with which we so easily fill our lives.
What consumes us?
Is it pride? Is it materialism? Is it greed or hatred? Is it money or power? Do we spend endless hours before the “boob tube,” or constantly steal away to the darkness of the Internet? How about a trip to Hooters for some hot wings (after all, they tell me it’s just a family restaurant) Do we spend way too much time in the “near occasion” of sin?
Sure, these things can surely taste good going down…but, in the end, they don’t do us any good. In fact, they ultimately hurt us.
No doubt you’ve heard the expression, “You are what you eat.” And like our stomachs, our souls are only so big. The more of the pride, lust and greed that we take in, the less room there is for Jesus.
As we fill up with the emptiness, we become the emptiness.
But, Jesus does not want that for us.
No, we need to fill ourselves…with Jesus, so that we become more like Jesus.
We need to fill ourselves with His Word through Scripture reading and study.
We need to fill ourselves with His love through offering ourselves in service to the poor.
But especially as Catholics, we need to fill ourselves with His Body and Blood, really and truly present, here in the Eucharist confected on this very Altar.
When we do this…we become Christ to the world. We become His hands with which others are lifted up.
We become His mouth with which the Gospel of hope is preached.
We become His shoulders on which the burdens of the lowly are carried.
We become His heart in which all who seek may find rest.
That’s right…when we partake of the Eucharist, we partake in the Divine Nature.
But only if we empty ourselves of the junk food, and fill ourselves with the Food of Truth – that Truth found only in Jesus.
So, where do we find nourishment, sustenance and refreshment? Is it in the emptiness of the world?
Or is it in Jesus.
Yes, He must increase.