Saturday after Epiphany
The painting titled "Return to the Convent" (originally Regreso al convento) was painted by Spanish artist Eduardo Zamacois y Zabala in 1868. The painting depicts a group of monks laughing while a lone monk struggles to lead a stubborn, overloaded donkey back to a monastery. A reflection in this painting is one of lighthearted irony—contrasting the solemnity of monastic life with the mundane, comical difficulty of handling a beast of burden. But it can also be interpreted as suggesting a darker side of human nature, in which human beings experience pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction from learning of the troubles, failures, pain, suffering, or humiliation of another. A group of fellow monks that stands at the monastery entrance, laughing at their companion’s misfortune rather than offering help. The observing monks experience joy, stemming from relief that the donkey is not theirs and from satisfaction at seeing a fellow monk face a mishap. The bottom line is that the observing monks are rejoicing over the calamity of their peer.
In the Gospel of John that we hear today, John the Baptist turns to the messianic imagery of marriage and applies the role of a friend of the bridegroom, an important role in marriage rituals, as a metaphor for his role at the event of history. As a friend, John the Baptist rejoices at the success of the groom. John is the voice of one crying in the wilderness, who witnesses to Jesus that he characterizes as the messianic image of the bridegroom. John the Baptist points to Jesus as the true bridegroom who has taken his bride. As a friend of the bridegroom, John the Baptist acknowledges that the bridegroom and the bride are one. Moreover, he rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. John the Baptist is a model of true faith who rejoices at the success of others and wants the best for others, instead of focusing on someone's failure or misfortunes. The expression of his faith is through the claim that his joy has been fulfilled as his witness is finishing. So, he states, “He must increase, but I must decrease."