Ven Elizabeth Prout
(Foundress Cross and Passion)
Readings:
1 John 5: 14-21
John 3: 22-30
Reflection:
The first reading today ends with the words ‘Children be on your guard against false gods.’ John also says that because the Son of God has come, we have the power to know the true God. We know the true God because of the life of Jesus who revealed God by his words and actions and we are also called to reveal the true God by our lives and actions. What a call?
The Gospel today gives a good clue as to how we come to know our true identity. Jesus and John both inspired men on a similar journey but with some nuanced differences and certainly different personalities. In many situations, they might be seen as rivals and in competition with one another – who had the most followers, and why are people shifting from John to Jesus? They might ask why is John not defending his spot, but no, John has recognised that his mission is complete, and now the one he was proclaiming is here. John can let go! John is happy that his work is done and he can allow Jesus to take up the baton, as it were, because he is the promised one.
In a sense, this is the story of Elizabeth Prout, foundress of the Cross and Passion Sisters. Elizabeth was fragile in health when she began the community that was to become our Congregation and had only 13 years with the community before her death at the age of 43. She was able to let go in confidence that others could continue what she had begun because God was the guide and what she had started was guided by the Holy Spirit and would continue to be guided after her death. In a sense, this is the call for all of us; we plant seeds that others will water, nurture and reshape for a new time.
Let us pray that, like John the Baptist, we too will know our true identity and mission and be able to let go and let others when the time comes!
Sr. Brigid Murphy CP, Sisters of the Cross & Passion, Melbourne