Hi everyone,
As my kids grow older and have a better command of their native language, I find something that I suppose many parents find as their kids grow older… and that is kids talk a lot. Like, a LOT. It is almost they had stored up all these things to say over all the years when they couldn’t talk, and now that they have the words everything comes out in large bucketfuls of verbal pea soup. Especially with my second son, who just started Kindergarten and seems to have finally found his voice, he is non-stop in talking about some of the most random things you could ever dream of.
On the flip side, I now know how trees grow using water and sunlight, how to say “friend” in french, and why Bowser is so powerful in the Mario games (okok, I already knew that last one, but I decided to humour him anyway).
There is something about having that voice, though. We all have something inside that needs to come out, something to tell, to inform others of, to simply proclaim because it is that important.
Now my kids just need to learn the importance of manners and relevancy in their stories.
The readings for next week are:
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Psalm 126
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
John 1:6-8, 19-28
I know what you’re thinking, “didn’t we just hear about John the baptizer today?” You’re right, we did. But that is ok because we can never get too much of John (well, maybe we can, but two weeks in a row isn’t it).
But the John we get in the gospel of John is a little different. He seems a bit more approachable, more relatable, more… human. He is approached by the people asking him who he is and what is his problem, and all he says is that he is the “voice of the one crying from the wilderness”.
The voice.
John the baptizer had something to say and he said it. Isaiah was called to say something and he said it. We all are anointed by the Spirit to be witnesses to God’s grace and mercy and we have our voice to proclaim God come near, and we say it.
Preachers or not, our lives are testimony of who we are as God’s beloved children. Not in that we live perfect lives, but that we live imperfect but forgiven lives, and our voice is found in that forgiveness that is bestowed to all people. Let’s together use that voice to proclaim God’s unending love and favour, that we might be beacons of this gospel to all the world! Thanks be to God!
Have a great week, everyone!