7 minutes reading time (1428 words)

Lesson [Second Sunday of Advent]

Saturday, 09 December 2023

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Every Christian Is another John the Baptist

John the Baptist always plays a big role in Advent. He was the last and greatest of a long line of Old Testament prophets. God sent those prophets to prepare Israel for the arrival of the Messiah, the anointed Savior and Redeemer of the world - Jesus.

Isaiah's prophecy in today's First Reading was made more than five hundred years before John the Baptist's prophecy, but their substance is very much the same: God has not forgotten his people, and in spite of their sufferings, sins, and failings, he will come and save them, shepherding them to a happiness beyond what they can imagine. The consistency of the message throughout so long a period of time puts into context that fascinating line from the Second Reading, which is actually a quotation from the Book of Psalms (Psalm 90:4): "with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day." God is consistent; he foll ows through on his plans.

But if John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets, he was the first of the New Testament prophets. Prophets are messengers of God. And in New Testament times, our times, the Age of the Church, each Christian is a messenger of God, and so each Christian is a prophet.

The liturgy reminds us of this every time we come to Mass, when we make the sign of the cross over our lips before the Gospel is proclaimed. This symbolizes our mission as Christians to communicate the Good News of the Gospel; it's not just for us. As the first New Testament prophet, John the Baptist has three valuable lessons to teach us about how to be a prophet.

Inviting Others to Repent

First, John invited the people of his time to repent from their sins, so that they would be ready to welcome Jesus, the Savior. We too are called to invite others to leave behind the sinful patterns of life that our society encourages, so that God's grace can come into their lives. This doesn't mean that all of us are called to go stand on street corners shouting about hellfire and brimstone. But it does mean that we should not be afraid to encourage our friends, colleagues, family members, and neighbors to live the life Christ taught us to live.

Christ made it clear that greed, lies, adultery, laziness, fornication, and every kind of selfishness is destructive. Every sin, even if the fashionable ones like homosexuality and drugs, leads us further away from the happiness and peace of mind we long for. And so, if we really care about other people, we will do our best to warn them against sin. Sometimes we are afraid to do this because we don't want to "force our morality on other people," as the phrase goes. This is a false argument. It is not our morality; it is Christ's morality, the morality he built into human nature.

He knows what makes the human heart wise, strong, and joyful, because he created the human heart. Imagine a mechanic being afraid to tell the owner of a car how to take care of the car's engine, because he was afraid to "force his opinions" on other people. Imagine a master violinist being afraid to show his students how to place their fingers on the strings because he was afraid of "offending their sensibilities."

A Christian afraid of sharing with others the rich wisdom of Christ, the secrets to happiness that Jesus died to give us, would be just as ridiculous.

Turning People's Attention to Christ

But John's message wasn't just negative; in fact, it was mostly positive. He called for repentance, for people to turn away from their sins, but he also turned people's attention towards something - the greatness, the beauty, and the transforming power of Christ: "One mightier than I is coming after me... He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

We too are called to turn people's attention to Christ, so that they can discover his love, goodness, and transforming power. One young man (from the United States), who was recently ordained a priest for a religious order, tells about how his mother used to turn people's attention to Christ.

There were ten children in the family, so she didn't get out of the house a lot. But the children's friends were often coming into the house, and that became her opportunity. She had a wooden cross with a candle mounted on the wall near the living room. Whenever she had a special prayer intention, she would light the candle for the day, as a symbol of her ongoing prayer. Most days, it was burning. One day, one of the neighborhood kids came over and noticed that the candle was not lit. "Why isn't the candle burning?" he asked. The mother answered, "I don't have anyone to pray for today. But if you want me to pray for you, I will light it." And right then and there she lit the candle, and as soon as the flame was bright, the little boy's face became even brighter.

We can always find a way to help turn peoples' attention to Christ, to his goodness, love, and transforming power; and that's the best way to brighten their day.

Leading by Lifestyle

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about St John the Baptist was that so many people actually listened to him. Why was that? Because how he lived was consistent with what he said.

St Mark makes that clear when he says, "John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey." Everyone who knew John and heard him speak could see immediately that he was not living a self-centered life, and that opened their hearts. We too, as New Testament prophets, are called to live in such a way that the best argument supporting our words about Christ will be that we are living like Christ. This is the real power behind all the saints.

Let take one example of St. Edmund Campion. He was a Jesuit priest sent into England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, who was trying to stamp out the Catholic Church in England. She had made it illegal for priests to celebrate Mass, hear confessions, or teach Catholic doctrine, and for lay people to shelter priests. As a result, seminarians had to leave England and study abroad. Once ordained, they would sneak back into England in disguise, and travel secretly from Catholic family to Catholic family, celebrating the sacraments in hiding. Like St Edmund Campion, many of these brave priests, and the lay people who supported them, became martyrs. Campion was able to avoid arrest for about a year as he travelled throughout the country keeping the faith alive. But finally, a servant acting as a spy for the government turned him in.

While Campion was imprisoned in the Tower of London, awaiting his execution, this betrayer came to visit him. He and the saint spoke for a long time, and Campion encouraged him to confess his sins and come back to the Church. He even offered to give him a personal recommendation to a nobleman in Germany, so that he would have a safe and peaceful place to live. But the traitor refused to repent and left the prisoner's cell angry and upset. One of the prison guards had been present for the whole conversation. He was deeply moved by the kindness and gentleness Campion showed towards his betrayer. It affected him so much, in fact, that he became convinced that the Catholic faith must be the true Christian faith, and he decided to become a Catholic.

As New Testament prophets, we must use words to invite repentance and to tell about God's goodness and Christ's truth, but our best argument will always be Christ-like lives.

Our Advent Mission

Every Christian is called to be another John the Baptist, and that's why the Church always holds his example up for our consideration during Advent. Today Jesus will come onto the altar here in this church as truly as he came into the manger at Bethlehem.

When he does, let's thank him for not forgetting about us, and let's promise him that this Advent we will do our best to fulfil our Advent mission, by striving to follow the example of St John the Baptist, the last Old Testament prophet, and the first New Testament prophet.