Sunday, December 17 : Saint Gregory the Great
“I baptize with water, but among you stands one whom you do not know.” John did not baptize with the Spirit, but with water, since he was unable to take away the sins of those being baptized. He washed their bodies with water, but not their hearts with pardon. Why did one whose baptism did not forgive sins baptize, except that he was observing his vocation as forerunner? He whose birth foreshadowed a greater birth, by his baptizing foreshadowed the Lord who would truly baptize; he whose preaching made him the forerunner of Christ, by baptizing also became his forerunner, using a symbol of the future sacrament. With these other mysteries he makes known the mystery of our Redeemer, declaring that he has stood among men and not been known. The Lord appeared in a human body: he came as God in flesh, visible in his body, invisible in his majesty. He goes on to say about him: “He who comes after me was made before me” (Jn 1,15)…; he revealed the reason for this precedence when he said: “because he was before me.” He means, “Even though he was born after me, he surpasses me in that the time of his birth does not limit him. He who is born from his mother in time was begotten of his Father before time.” John reveals the great humility and reverence he owes Christ by saying: “I am not worthy to undo the strap of his sandal.” It was the custom among the ancients that if someone was unwilling to take the wife he should be taking, he who should have come to her as bridegroom by right of relationship would undo his sandal. How did Christ appear among men if not as the bridegroom of holy Church?… But since people considered John the Christ, a fact which he denied, he was right to declare his unworthiness to undo the strap of Christ’s sandal. It is as if he was saying…: “I am not unrightfully usurping for myself the name of bridegroom” (cf. Jn 3,29).
Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team
