Reflection for Saturday, August 29, 2020: Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist.

Abstract

|As I reflect on the readings from today, my thoughts cannot seem to make it past the first line of the first reading. The first line of this passage by Paul says, "Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters." What a terrific invitation. But, it got me thinking about how am I to consider who I am? When I look in the mirror, I see my physical self. But, I know there is more to me than just my physical self.|I love the notion of the mirror when thinking about who I am and my relationship with God. Meister Eckhart [German theologian, philosopher and mystic, 1260-1328] once wrote that an image springs from the thing whose reflection it is and it belongs to it with all its being. If we are an image of God, then we reflect God to all of humanity at every moment. This may be what Paul was getting at with his invitation, "Consider your calling." In other words, "Consider who you are" as a mirror image and reflection of God. |Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought, "this is what God looks like"? Not to say that we are God, but to realize that our image reflects the image of God because God lives in us. The image that we see reflects the whole of us – both inner stuff and outer stuff. Many times we look in the mirror and just see the outer stuff and think, "I have too many wrinkles," "I should really lose some weight," or "I wish I had more hair" (that's me). But maybe if we look past what we see on the outside, we can better understand what Paul is saying in today's reading. We may not have as much money, power, intelligence, or strength as others we know or see on TV. But, that is okay because that is not what is truly being reflected in the mirror.|Our reflection comes from God because we belong to God with all of our being. If we look in the mirror and our thoughts go no further than, "I am rich" or "I am powerful" or "I am smart," then our ego doesn't allow us to move beyond those thoughts – we are stuck only seeing a small part of our wholeness. But, Paul reminds us that those with less are paradoxically able to see more. Those who have less move beyond their ego to know what they have comes from God and therefore we can, "boast in the Lord." With less, we "consider our calling" by looking into the mirror and knowing that which reflects back at us is the image of God – and that image is good.