Reflection for December 17
In the gospel today John the Baptist is asked, “Who are you?” I was asked a similar question several years ago. In my role as Chemistry Department Chair at Trinity I often visit the teaching labs. One day I came into the introductory chemistry lab and found a student who was not wearing their safety glasses (FYI, eye protection is always needed in a chemistry lab). I went over to the student and asked him to put his safety glasses on. His reply was, “Who the heck are you?” said in a particularly snarky way.
What was my reply? Well, I said something snarky back, and the safety glasses went on. But over the ensuing years, his question has remained with me. There are lots of answers to it. I am a husband, son, brother, father, uncle, and brother-in-law. I am a chemist, teacher, mentor, co-worker, runner, gardener, reader, neighbor, and a frequent worshipper at Holy Family. In all these facets of my life, the one thing that ties them together is this: I am one of God’s children. And I think that in the various roles I play in life, I know I should be doing God’s work where, like John, I hope to “make straight the path of the Lord.”
Today would have been my mom’s 94th birthday. She passed away suddenly at the end of March. I was blessed to be with her the day before she died. She had a seizure that day. When it happened, I was able to cradle her head so it would not bang into the wood casing right next to her; then I gave her the anti-seizure medicine and stayed with her until the seizure abated. After the seizure had passed, I had the sense, as it said in the reading from Isaiah, that the spirit of God had been with me. That is not the first time I felt God in that way, just the most recent.
As I prepare for Christmas this year, the first one without my mom, knowing that God is at the center of who I am is a gift to rejoice in. And my prayer for all of you on this Gaudete Sunday is that the Spirit of God be upon you too as you navigate all the roles you fill in this world.
Tim Curran