Surprises!

Just when the Dominicans had defined their charism as preaching in the five theological frontiers, (the life-death, dignity-indignity, culture-faith, interreligious, and ecumenical frontiers), the Jesuits awakened to the same approach: “Father Kolvenbach said the common denominator uniting all Jesuits in their diverse contexts is the mission.

“This implies a presence at the frontiers,” he said. “Once they were the geographical frontiers of Christianity. However, today, they are the frontiers between the Gospel and culture, between faith and science, between the Church and society, between the good news and a troubled and confused world.”

Jan 12, Christmas Season

John the Baptist is tempted to see Jesus as a competitor, but he sees clearly that “he must decrease for Jesus to increase”. The old temptation of competing against God was initiated by the serpent at the Garden of Eden. Obeying this temptation places us directly against God, in a deadly situation, “because there is a sin that is death” (1 Jn 5:14-21). If we don’t understand that we are God’s servants, we will end up trying to make God our servant.