Dec 31: Anointed by the Holy One

Raffaello Sanzio: La Disputa (detail)
Stanza della Segnatura, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican, 1510-11

The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas

Reading I: 1 Jn 2:18-21

But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and you know that no lie comes from the truth (NRSV, 1 Jn 2:20-21).

Father, down through the centuries up until the present time, from Samuel’s anointing of Saul with oil, kings and even queens dedicated to you have been anointed. Priests too are anointed to fulfill their office as were Aaron and his sons. Prophets likewise are anointed if only by their mission from you, Lord. In time your people began to look forward to the coming of the Messiah, the Anointed One, to deliver them from the evils that oppressed them. In Mark’s gospel, at the beginning of his public ministry, after he had been baptized by John, Jesus experienced himself as anointed by the Holy Spirit whom he saw descend upon him in the form of a dove. He also heard your voice from heaven, Father: "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." In later accounts, Lord, John and the crowd also experienced this anointing of Jesus.

As your Son Jesus was thus anointed by your Holy Spirit to be priest, prophet and king, so, as we share your life through Jesus,the Word made flesh, and the mission that you entrusted to him to announce the coming of your kingdom, we also are solemnly anointed with oil at our baptism. We too are anointed priest, prophet and king. Your one indivisible act that creates and saves, Lord, that baptizes us into your life and anoints us, also bestows your life upon us and anoints us even from the womb.

It is from the womb, that first moment of our existence, that your Holy Spirit breathes the Word upon us, the Word that you send down to brings us your life and your knowledge. Father, as your act is one (it is your Being itself) so also your revelation is one, your revelation that is spoken once and for all at every moment to us.

That is why your servant, the author of the first letter of John, reminds us that we have knowledge and that we know the truth. Your truth is spoken to us by the Word in the Holy Spirit from our first moment of life in the womb. As every moment for us is a challenge to grow in your divine life, every moment is an opportunity to increase our understanding of the truth that has been revealed to us once and for all.

Father, as we thank you for the gift of your divine life, we are grateful as well for the knowledge which that life brings. Help us always to deepen our understanding of who you are and what you require of us, who with Jesus are your beloved daughters and sons.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.