Saturday, December 13, 2014

John the Baptist and Edmund Halley



Third Sunday of Advent
December 14, 2014
John 1:6-8,19-28

"I am not the Messiah (John 1:20)."

Because how our world and society work, it is just impossible to have all to stand as number one. At the Olympic swimming competition, it is absurd to declare all swimmer as gold medalists. Or, in corporate world, a company simply collapses if it has more CEO than ordinary employees. Because of this structure, only few can reach the summit, while the bulk of humanity has to be satisfied occupying positions somewhere lower. The good news is though we cannot become the commander-in-chief, we are called to thrive to be the best.
 However, to become the second best is one of the most difficult tasks to do. This is because we are facing two-sided temptation: one side is our desire to be ahead of everyone else and sometimes, at the expense of others. “Why would we settle for second if we can come up as number one?” Runners are encouraged to compete on the tracks but if the rivalries go beyond the lines, then it turns out to be unhealthy and even dangerous. And, the other side is mediocrity. “If we cannot reach the top, then why would we try to excel anyway?” A business will not prosper if only the CEO is working so hard yet the rest of the company just siting lazily. Obviously, these are not the right attitudes.
Our today’s Gospel tells us of John the Baptist. He is personification of the ‘second best’. He knew that he had all the charism and vigor to draw people to himself. He could have been a superstar preacher and even a political leader, if he had proclaimed himself as the Messiah. Yet, he did not. He knew well that the Messiah is Jesus and ‘to untie the strap of His shoes’ John was not even worthy. That makes him ‘second’ to Jesus, the best man of the bridegroom. But, what makes him ‘best’ is that another thing. He was well aware he was not the One, and instead looking for another job or settling for less, he simply did what was possible to serve the true Messiah and to prepare the way for His coming. He possessed that giant humility to accept his identity as a second man, and he displayed a massive commitment to his vocation as the best man.
Like John, we are not Christ. In our daily life, we are not holding the highest position in the office, or becoming priests in a parish, but it does not mean that we have to be mediocre. Thousands of faithful troop toward Santo Domingo Church, our church in Metro Manila, for Sunday masses. If the priests alone serve these people without dedicated lay ministers and lectors, they could have fainted anytime. Definitely there are a lot of ways to be our best despite not being on the top position. Let me share you this story of Edmund Halley, the astronomer who discovered Halley comet.
We are familiar with story of Isaac Newton’s discovery of the law of gravity because an apple fell, but it was actually Halley who was virtually responsible for Newton’s theories becoming famous. Halley challenged Newton to come up with his own theories to explain the falling of the apple and even he evaluated Newton’s mathematical works. Not only did he encourage Newton to create his opus, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, but he edited the book, supervised its publication, and financed its printing, even though Newton was actually richer. Halley received little credit. Halley could have stolen the idea or let Newton solve the problem by his own, but Halley knew well that he was the best man of Newton and certainly the best friend would not fall into that cheap temptation.
It is never easy to become ‘second best’, but learning from Edmund Halley and John the Baptist, we can thrive also to become our own version of ‘second best’.

Bro. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

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