The Song, not the singer

Many years ago I saw a film, which I've mostly forgotten except for a few scenes. The Singer not the Song was about a Mexican bandit terrorising a village and the priest who stands up to him. The bandit develops a grudging respect for the priest, whose courage he admires, whilst continuing to reject his God and his religion and values. It is clear, right to the end: his fascination is with the Singer, not the Song; the priest, not the One he spends his life proclaiming, the source of his strength, and the reason for his actions.

I remembered that scene last week, when I saw this photo of Pope Benedict's image on display at Westminster Cathedral, taken by Marcin Mazur, and used here with his permission. It sums up what all our lives should be about - what I know my life should be about: standing back, in the shadows, to allow Jesus to be the One most fully and clearly in focus. And I thought of John the Baptist, who was also in my mind thanks to last week's Gospel readings: He must increase; I must decrease (John 3:30). And I thought too of Patris Corde, where Pope Francis refers to St Joseph as the earthly shadow of the heavenly Father... And a shadow that follows his Son.

The Song, which is Love, in all its beauty and purity; not the singer whose voice enables the beauty to be known... 

This morning I turned back a couple of pages in my notebook, and came across something I had written. Someone else's words - unfortunately, I hadn't noted whose - but so right for this reflection... John the Baptist is the clear glass which allows the light to pass through without distorting it. That is John's poverty, and his greatness...

Yesterday we returned, liturgically, to Ordinary Time: to packed-away cribs, and tinsel-less, lights-less rooms which feel bare and denuded of all their sparkle, especially in January's gloom. But there was plenty of light in our first reading, from Hebrews, with its reminder that Jesus is the radiant light of God's glory! Light and glory and a call and challenge, too - to poverty, and to greatness. May we all be reflections of that glory, radiating the Love we are all called to proclaim with our lives...