Soul Friends | January 4, 2016

January 4, 2016

Raise your hand if you have someone in your life that you feel connected to on a soul level that is even deeper than your closest friendships. I feel like John the Baptist and Jesus shared their souls in this kind of way, from their first meeting in the womb when John so dramatically greeted Jesus that it tickled Elizabeth’s ribs (or maybe it was a scaled down version of the scene from Aliens right before Sigourney Weaver’s stomach hatched), to their beautiful baptism scene in the Jordan, John and Jesus were soul friends for sure. It was John’s ministry that opened the door to Jesus’ ministry. John always pointed people’s eyes toward Jesus and Jesus humbly accepted the baton if you will from his older wilder cousin. It was John who endured all the speculating questions about his mysterious and appealing younger cousin, but his purpose in life was never cloudy: “prepare the way of the LORD.” He knew it before he was even born. He was the first to worship Jesus and his whole life was dedicated to that.

Today’s gospel gives us a glimpse into exactly what John the Baptist meant for Jesus: a gateway, an opening act, the pre-show that gets the crowd ready for the headliner, and he did an amazing job at setting the stage for Jesus to stand in the spotlight. John had a flare for the dramatic from the moment he tap-danced on Elizabeth’s spleen, and in today’s gospel the curtain closes on John the Baptist as Jesus learned that he was arrested. I wonder if Jesus had stage fright. His mission had been slowly but surely revealed to him throughout his whole life and all his practice, rehearsing the words, pondering his objective, and understanding his role was in the wings ready to take center stage. I know the butterflies that flip flop in your gut right before you step out from behind the curtain. It tickles and it makes you want to puke at the same time. Did Jesus have these kinds of butterflies?

The first thing Jesus had to do was leave Nazareth. Anyone who has gone away to college can relate to how Jesus must have felt leaving his mom, saying goodbye to his neighbors, his buddies, and his co-workers. It is exciting and it is scary. He moved in with Peter and his family in Capernaum so that Isaiah’s prophecy would be fulfilled. Have you ever couch surfed for an extended period of time? It is fun for a while, but it can also wear on you, leaving you feeling displaced and restless. A certain restlessness is required in ministry because it moves us, it pulls us, and it awakens us. John and Jesus were the kind of soul friends that inspired each other’s ministry, shed light on each other’s gifts, strengthened each other’s will, and gave purpose to each other’s restlessness. Raise your hand if you have a soul friend like that. The Irish call this kind of friend “Anam Cara.”

Anam Cara refers to the Celtic spiritual belief of souls connecting and bonding. In Celtic Spiritual tradition, it is believed that the soul radiates all about the physical body, what some refer to as an aura. When you connect with another person and become completely open and trusting with that individual, your two souls begin to flow together. Should such a deep bond be formed, it is said you have found your Anam Cara or soul friend.

Your Anam Cara always accepts you as you truly are, holding you in beauty and light. In order to appreciate this relationship, you must first recognize your own inner light and beauty. This is not always easy to do. The Celts believed that forming an Anam Cara friendship would help you to awaken your awareness of your own nature and experience the joys of others. 

According to John O'Donahue, an accomplished Irish poet, philosopher and Catholic priest, "...You are joined in an ancient and eternal union with humanity that cuts across all barriers of time, convention, philosophy and definition. When you are blessed with an anam cara, the Irish believe, you have arrived at that most sacred place: home."

John was faithful to his call until the end and Jesus did not take that lightly. He knew his time to preach, and teach, and heal, and save had come and John had prepared the way like no other could. We are all called to prepare the way for Christ to enter in and save. May I always turn people toward him in humble service, joyful praise, and reckless abandon, and may I never forget that my heart will be restless until I rest in him. If you have an “Anam Cara” like John the Baptist and Jesus, pray a special blessing over them today.

Reading 1 1 JN 3:22–4:6

Beloved:
We receive from him whatever we ask,
because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
And his commandment is this:
we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another just as he commanded us.
Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them,
and the way we know that he remains in us
is from the Spirit whom he gave us.

Beloved, do not trust every spirit
but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
This is how you can know the Spirit of God:
every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh
belongs to God,
and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus
does not belong to God.
This is the spirit of the antichrist
who, as you heard, is to come,
but in fact is already in the world.
You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them,
for the one who is in you
is greater than the one who is in the world.
They belong to the world;
accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world,
and the world listens to them.
We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us,
while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us.
This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

Responsorial Psalm PS 2:7BC-8, 10-12A

R. (8ab) I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.
The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;
this day I have begotten you.
Ask of me and I will give you
the nations for an inheritance
and the ends of the earth for your possession.”
R. I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.
And now, O kings, give heed;
take warning, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice before him;
with trembling rejoice.
R. I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.

Alleluia SEE MT 4:23

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the kingdom
and cured every disease among the people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MT 4:12-17, 23-25

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested,
he withdrew to Galilee. 
He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea,
in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,
that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet 
might be fulfilled:

Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles,
the people who sit in darkness
have seen a great light,
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death
light has arisen.

From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say,
“Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

He went around all of Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness among the people. 
His fame spread to all of Syria,
and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases
and racked with pain,
those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics,
and he cured them. 
And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea,
and from beyond the Jordan followed him.