Happy Friday, Everybody. Let us begin this Little Triduum looking at the upcoming Gospel reading in the Light of the Grave:

This Sunday's Gospel is John: 29-34 (from the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible)

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness, “I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven and remain on him. I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

Saint John the Baptist twice states that he “did not know him.” Does that strike you as strange, given that they were closely born cousins and that on Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, Jesus’ own in utero proximity caused John to ‘leap in his mother’s womb’? We don’t know how much time they spent together before John baptized Jesus, but we do know that something tremendous and new was revealed to John, and through him to us, on that occasion.

Jesus, the perfect son of God, held back on letting his glory be known. We, imperfect sons and daughters of the world, all too often want to be known for a glory we do not actually possess.

The only glory we can know during our time on this earthly pilgrimage is the glory of Christ, and the attention we desire can only bring us joy if it comes to us through him. But it is not wrong that we yearn for glory. We were made for it. But the glory we were made for is a heavenly glory intended for us as members of the body of Christ. Once we are free from the various sins which afflict us (which the Lamb of God came to take away) we will know our place in the Body of Christ and his glory will be ours.