Not as seen on tv

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK

Jesus, teach me to understand the difference between what's shown in commercials and the real thing. Amen!


NOT AS SEEN ON TV

People kept asking John the Baptist if he was God. "No," said John. "But there's someone coming who's so great, I'm not good enough to untie His shoes. I'm baptizing you with water, but He'll baptize you with the Holy Spirit." Then Jesus was baptized, and God's voice came from heaven, saying, "This is my Son, and I'm proud of Him."

Before Christmas, some new toys may have sounded magical. Pictures and commercials showed happy kids playing with them, with sparkles in the air around them and everyone screaming with excitement. You couldn't wait to get your hands on some of those toys!

Now that you've been playing with whatever you got for Christmas for a while, you know that toys are fun, but not magic. They don't create huge groups of instant friends, and they don't sparkle. They're just toys, like any other one you've owned before.

This week's Gospel (Lk. 3:15-16,21-22) talks about the difference between something ordinary, like the toys you got, and something extraordinary, like the way those toys are shown in commercials.

John is baptizing people - helping them to be sorry for their mistakes and pouring water on them as a symbol of starting over, closer to God - and people are so impressed by the idea, they wonder if John is actually God himself.

John's answer is like the difference between the toys you got for Christmas and the ones you saw on TV: "I'm baptizing you with water, but Jesus will bring the Holy Spirit." John says that Jesus is so much better, John isn't worthy to untie Jesus' sandals!

John is like a real toy: It does what it's supposed to do, but it isn't magic. Jesus, on the other hand, really is special: He's the Son of God; He can do miracles and help people get close to God in a way no one else can. Jesus is everything that's advertised!