We are God’s image only together

Read Time:4 Minute, 58 Second

Meditation on Monday, the 3rd week of Advent, year B1

When Jesus came to the temple and taught, the chief priests and

approached Him

elders of the people with the question: «By what right are you doing this? And who gave you this power? »

“Only together we are the image of God” – a banner with such an inscription once hung in one of the Roman Catholic parishes in Gniezno, the city where I was born, raised and took the first steps of faith. These words had a great impact on me. First of all, “only together” – it means that none of us, that I, that no one else can usurp being someone more special than others in God’s eyes. Together – as a community – we form one body and all members, although having different functions, are necessary for each other. Only together are we the image of God – in this sentence I discovered the power of a community that becomes a place of true experience of God. My whole Christian life is spent in small communities where relationships, often very difficult, are real and teach me to love.

Today in the Gospel, Jesus was asked, “By what right do you do this? And who gave you this power? ”. There are many usurpers who would like to put themselves in the place of God, give themselves divine qualities, expect obedience and obedience, often forcing it by force. When I think about this question asked of Jesus by the chief priests and elders, I wonder where all the people who played a fundamental role in my life in bringing me closer to God came from. Who gave them “authority” to teach me, testify, and encourage me to follow Jesus?

It seems to me that I would never ask this question to those in whose life and choices I saw God’s image, the reflection of God’s qualities – through them I see God’s action. Maybe I will be high-minded, but I have some inner conviction that people who live prayer are genuinely immersed in communion with God and His people, do not need any additional “licenses”. Our heart tells us who is giving true witness, inviting us to build a relationship with God and others.

Who gives the right to speak for God on earth? The community of believers, Christ himself gave them to the Church, but he was probably aware of the usurpers, so he warned that we will know the true disciples of Jesus by love, that is by the relationships they have with each other.

What was the fruit of the life of John the Baptist that Jesus is referring to today? I think the most important “fruit” is his voice and “hand” which indicated: “Behold the Lamb of God.” John’s humility, his ability to step aside so as not to accidentally stand between God and man. He gave God a voice. How do I recognize God’s image in communities or individuals, how do I discern that a given community really speaks in the name of God? It is their ability to “step back into the shadows.” It is hiding to show Jesus to others.

What does it mean to me that a community is able to “hide itself”? That it doesn’t send Jesus away? This means that it helps me to enjoy freedom, educates me for it, shows me the world honestly and tells me about her experience of God’s working in their midst. Such a community or individual is not a tyrant, but a humble servant who helps to come closer to the truth, never showing himself as the owner of the truth. John the Baptist was like that. Moreover, Jesus was just like that. Being God, he became man, took flesh, deprived himself of the glory of Heaven and became absolutely obedient to the Father, he brought us closer to him, talked about him, showed us his closeness and love.

I discover God’s image in the world in communities and people who do not put themselves in the center, but accompany them on the way and are able to teach how to love. When I experience this, and God has put a lot of such communities and people on my way, I know that their power comes from God, that God identifies himself with them despite their weaknesses.

For me it is also a daily challenge: where am I in relation to others? Can I be humble, stay in the shadows? It is a daily challenge for me to become like Jesus, to learn how to be a disciple of Jesus, how to be faithful and obey Him. I am in the Church not because I already know how to be a disciple, how to be a believer. But I know that there is a real Jesus at work in the Christian community to help me achieve this.

Jesus, meek, humble, becoming a servant, to show us the Father, thank you for inviting me every day on the path of humility and love. Have mercy on me, because I still put myself in the center so often and send You to myself and to others. Today I want to return to the grace of baptism, I want to immerse myself in baptismal water again, leave my pride and self-centeredness there, and come out of the baptismal pool as a humble and obedient servant. Please renew in me the grace of Baptism.

In this sacrament you show me that you accept me absolutely and that you give me the grace of salvation, that it is not dependent on me, on my faith, awareness or dignity, but you give it generously, generously, unconditionally, because you are sovereign A God you see the hearts and desires of man. Please accept me to you, I want to obey You unconditionally, I want to diminish like John the Baptist so that You will grow in me. Amen.