John’s Mission is Our Mission

Merry SaintJohntheBaptistmas! “Wait? What did he say?” 

Photo by Alessandro Rosi / Franciscan Media

I said, Merry SaintJohntheBaptistmas! You heard me right. If we celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ, on December 25, then six months before that, which is today, we should celebrate the birth of his predecessor, St. John the Baptist. So, Merry SaintJohntheBaptistmas!

I know what you’re thinking. Christmas is December 25, and today is only June 24. How come we’re celebrating on this day? Well, it’s just a little quirk in the calendar. In the old Roman way of dating things, they would go by how many days an event occurred prior to the first day of the next month. And if you count backwards from July 1, since June has only 30 days, instead of 31, that is how you end up on June 24, and that is why the church celebrates the Nativity of St. John the Baptist on this date. But the point is, it’s six months before Christmas, John was born six months before Jesus, so there you have it.

Today we not only commemorate a great prophet, but we also consider the office of prophet, an office we received at our own baptism. Therefore as we look at John the Baptist, we also learn of ourselves in terms of our responsibilities both as a prophet and also as one who must be open to those who are appointed prophets to us. I want us to consider three aspects of the life and ministry of John the Baptist and how these also pertain to you and me.

1. His PREPARING PURPOSE 

John’s job in life was to prepare the way for Jesus. John would say, “The one coming after me is greater than I; I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet.” John also directed his disciples to Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

In other words, it’s time for us to get ready. Either the Lord will come to us or we will go to him. And the Lord, not wanting us to be lost, sends Elijah, sends John the Baptist, sends the Church, sends our parents, sends priests, teachers and many prophets to prepare us. Think about it this way: every single person we encounter on our life’s journey, the Lord in his love has sent to prepare us. That is pretty amazing!

2. His PERSISTENT POINTING to Christ.

Some people would like to remember John the Baptist simply because of the strange circumstances surrounding his birth: the angel’s announcing his coming to his father, Zechariah, and striking him unable to speak until his birth; the birth of John to Elizabeth, who was well beyond her childbearing years. Some think John should be remembered for the kind of life he lived: a harsh and strange life dressed in camel’s hair, eating locusts and wild honey. Some remember John for his harsh preaching against the self-righteous Pharisees. Many would say that John’s death by beheading by King Herod was what made John most famous.

We are going to cast all of these aside today and remember St. John the Baptist for one thing: his finger. Because of all the things that John the Baptist did, the most important was what he did with his finger: he pointed to Christ.

The true prophet points only to God. John did not look to his own glory or fame, he looked to Jesus. He did not look at the bottom line and try and figure what it would cost him to follow Jesus, he just looked and pointed. How often do we do things for our own glory, fame and recognition? When we point the finger at someone, is our intention to blame them for something? Do we use our fingers to identify the people around us who ought to get in trouble so that we don’t?

The true prophet is turned toward Christ, looks for him and eagerly points to him. As John said, “He must increase; I must decrease.” We must live our lives the very same way.

3. His PRESENT PERSON 

John the Baptist was a real person who ministered to real people in order to get them ready to meet Jesus. Therefore two questions come to mind for us:

1. Who is John the Baptist for us?

Surely the Church has this role to be like John the Baptist preparing us to meet God. But there are others such as parents, teachers and the religious have also had this role of John in our life. The Church certainly has members who take up her voice. But for many of us, the first place we heard of Jesus was not in a Papal encyclical or even in the bible. We first heard of Jesus at our mother’s knee, from our father’s voice, from a religious sister, a priest or teacher. And together they said, “This is the way, walk in it.”

John the Baptist is still present in the ministry of the Church and in those around us. Sometimes, we need to be reminded of this.

2. How are we John the Baptist to others?

Just as we have received the ministry of John the Baptist from others, so are we called to take it up for others. To whom have we witnessed? To whom have we declared, “This is the way, walk in it?”

When we were baptized we received the office of prophet: to love, serve and be the light of Christ to others. Have we taken up this role? Have others been made ready through us to meet God? Think about it. God had John the Baptist, who does God have now? It’s you and me. We are John the Baptist! And we need to be so for others.

Today we remember the Nativity of St. John the Baptist – not for his sake, but for ours – to recall that he was the one born into this world to identify Christ for us. John the Baptist points to Jesus. And by pointing to Jesus, John has identified for us the one Source of all of our hope, comfort, peace, life and joy.

Praise be to God for the birth of St. John the Baptist! Praise be to God for St. John as he points us to our Savior, Jesus Christ the Lamb of God who has taken away our sins. So listen to John. Trust in Jesus. And have a very Merry SaintJohntheBaptistmas!