Birth of John the Baptist
by Paul A Magnano Pastor, St. Therese Parish, Seattle
I want to focus my homily on John the Baptist and on baptism.
First, John the Baptist. The prophecy of his father is particularly pertinent:
“You, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.” He was not the Messiah. This he made clear to the crowds who thought he might be. “One who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals.” John was a prophet, a person sent by God to proclaim God’s word.
What was John’s message? “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Repent. The Greek word means “change your mind,” “change your thinking,” “turn about,” “return,” “be converted.” John was telling the people to reform their lives, to return to the way of life demanded by the covenant between God and Israel, to be faithful to the promise of their ancestors: “All that God has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” John was asking his compatriots to be all they were called to be: “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Second, baptism. Like John, because of your baptism, each one of you is a prophet of the Lord. Central to your Christianity is the risen Christ: Christ in the Word proclaimed, Christ in the Eucharist celebrated, Christ in every sacrament from baptism to marriage to the final anointing. You have been anointed by the Lord to proclaim his Word. You go before the Lord to prepare his ways.
Listen to the missionary message proclaimed by Pope Paul VI in 1975:
“Evangelization cannot be complete unless account is taken of the links between the gospel and the concrete personal and social life of women and men. In proclaiming liberation and ranging itself with all who suffer and toil for it, the Church cannot allow itself or its mission to be limited to the purely religious sphere while it ignores the temporal problems of the human person. The Church considers it highly important to establish structures which are more human, more just, more respectful of the rights of the person, less oppressive and coercive.
The “preferential option for the poor” has yet to receive a Catholic “academy award.” If as we heard last week, nature is the new poor, then the Christian mandate of option for the poor and oppressed now includes the natural world. Pope John Paul II proposed a series of prophetic actions in his 1990 New Year’s Day message: be converted from a consumerist lifestyle, address poverty, avoid war and its devastating ecological effects, promote education in ecological responsibility starting with the family and appreciate the beauty of nature, which tells of the glory of God. Grounding these steps is a stunning principle: “Respect for life and for the dignity of the human person extends also to the rest of creation.”
If we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, then the range of neighbors now includes the whale, the monarch butterfly, Lake Washington – the entire community of life. If the common good requires solidarity with all who suffer, then our compassion extends to suffering human beings and other species caught in patterns of extinction. “Save the rain forest” becomes a concrete moral application of the commandment “Thou shalt not kill.” Ravaging of people and of the land go hand in hand.
Baptism sets our personal lives and church community off on a great adventure. We become sisters and brothers, friends and lovers, mothers and fathers, priests and prophets, co-creators and children of the earth. We can join in praying the Sanctus at Mass each Sunday with integrity: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna!”