Glimpses of God's Goodness are published for all Sundays and Feast Days at www.sndden.org, the international website of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.
December 17, 2023
John 1: 6-8, 19-28
Consider John.
Today’s Gospel speaks of him.
John was sent by God to testify to the light so that all might believe.
He was not the light, but came to testify to the light the true light which enlightens everyone.
John traveled and spoke to crowds telling everyone about the light.
And you? Have you been called to testify to the light?
Of course, you have –
How do you testify?
John spoke with encouraging words and fire.
You speak with love and humility encouraging the goodness you see and feel.
Consider John and his testimony. John lives on in confident completion.
Let us reflect quietly and consider ourselves and our testimony. Our testimony lives on in daily commitment and loving concern.
THANK YOU, JESUS
John 1: 6-8, 19-28
A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.
And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, “Who are you?” He admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, “I am not the Christ.” So they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?”
He said: “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”
Some Pharisees were also sent. They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The Gospel of the Lord
Sister Michela Sheehan, SNDdeN is the ninth child of thirteen children, born to an Irish Catholic family in Eureka, California. She entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur on Valentine’s Day in 1954. Sr. Michela has had a lively and varied life in Notre Dame: teaching/administration in California, Washington State and Oregon. In the United States, she was a Foster Mother for medically fragile infants in the San Francisco Bay Area, and an administrator of a home for homeless women and children in East Los Angeles. She worked also with our Sisters in Notre Dame schools in Nigeria and South Africa. Sr. Michela now volunteers at Ose Adams Medical Pavilion and Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center in Sacramento, CA and helps at River City Food Bank. She would say about her religious life: “All continues to be a grace-filled life.”