Welcome to St. John the Baptist Church

From the Pastor’s Desk  

Dear Brothers and Sisters, I share with you this reflection,

All of creation has the power to lay down its life. The yearly seasons lay down the bounty of their harvest, and daily our own lives pour forth their energy into tasks and labors—all a laying down. Most people want to be and are generous. Most people want to forgive. Most people want to be patient, to sacrifice for the sake of love, to give back what is received. Most people want to give of themselves for the happiness of others, to do service for the community, to donate blood, to be able to forgo their own way for the sake of harmony, to be courageous even at great cost.

All of creation also has the power to take up life again. Springtime returns; each morning we instinctively awaken to another day; weakened bodies heal. We also have the power to take up life. We seek relationships of love; we desire to enflesh that love with children. We work hard; we long to be creative; we strive to be good; we seek to create harmony and peace. We hunger for a relationship with our God. And we succeed more often than not. We do have a God-given power to take up new life. It is our God’s command to us.

That dual rhythm of laying down and taking up is but the echo of the Lord Jesus and how he chose to live among us. It was his Father’s command to him, bred in his bones and in his spirit, and it is a command that continues to show itself in our lives.

Living God’s Word

The divine instinct to lay down and to take up is how the Lord Jesus shepherds us, modeling so well what it means to be divine that we find ourselves imitating him and growing in his likeness. That divine instinct is how the Spirit shepherds through us.

Fr. Sergio López