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ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. (1)

His Preparation

"This is he of whom it is written: Behold I send my Angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee."
(St. Matt. xi. 10).

1st. Prelude. Picture of the Naming Day of St. John the Baptist who is on Our Lady's knee, while Elizabeth and the kinsfolk are discussing the name and Zachary is writing on a tablet; St. Joseph is looking on.

2nd. Prelude. The spirit of penance.

Often during Advent the Church directs our thoughts to the great Precursor of Jesus Christ, to him who was sent to prepare His ways. On four occasions she chooses for the "Gospel" in the Mass, passages which relate to St. John the Baptist and his work of preparation. If we would prepare well for the coming of our King, we cannot do better than meditate on St. John the Baptist and try in our small measure to prepare as he did.

Point I. The Preparation before his birth

(1) A prophecy. Four hundred years before the Precursor's birth, Malachias prophesied of him: "Behold I send My angel," that is My messenger; and Our Lord tells us expressly (His words are noted by three of the Evangelists, St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. Luke) that this messenger was John the Baptist, who was sent by God to prepare the ways of the Messias.

(2) His miraculous conception– for his parents were both "well advanced in years." Both his father and mother were "just before God walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blame;" and they had their cross to bear – the "reproach" of having no son and therefore no hope of the Messias being born to them; but this did not prevent them from praying, as all fervent Israelites prayed, for the coming of the Messias. The answer to their prayer was nearer than they thought. One day as Zachary was performing the most solemn part of his priestly office – offering incense on the golden altar that stood "over against the veil" which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies – he saw an angel standing on the right side of the altar, who, after he had calmed his fear, told him that his prayer was heard, that the Messias was coming, and that his wife Elizabeth was to bear him a son who was to be His Precursor, "he shall go before Him." The angel then prophesied many things about this child, which all show how careful was God's preparation of His Precursor:

"Thou shall call his name John" (the Grace of God). Only those who had an important future before them were named by God Himself before their birth.

"Many shall rejoice in his nativity." Many – both angels and men.

"He shall be great before the Lord." Great in sanctity and great in office.

He "shall drink no wine nor strong drink." He shall be a Nazarite, one separated and consecrated to God by a vow.

"He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb" – that is, he shall be cleansed from the stain of original sin and put into the state of grace before his birth as was Jeremias (Jer. i. 5).

"He shall convert many" by preaching penance and telling of Him who takes away sin.

"He shall go before Him … to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people." Zachary listened but he could not believe that what he heard was true, though Gabriel, who stands before God, had been sent expressly to him with the message of good tidings. He asked for a sign and He received one which not only proved to him that God can do what He wills as He wills, but also that He expects His children to trust Him.

When at length Zachary appeared from behind the curtain to the waiting and wondering people, instead of giving them the accustomed blessing (Num. vi. 24, 26), he made signs to them and remained dumb and they understood that he had seen a vision. God dealt severely with Zachary because he was so closely bound up with the Advent of the Messias. He had to be taught, and we through him, that the least venial sin may hinder God's work and designs, and that if we would be His instruments used by Him for the preparation of the Coming of His Son, we must be absolutely faithful about little things, full of confidence in God, setting no limit to His power and never doubting His dealings with us.

(3) He was filled with the Holy Ghost. Six months later, Elizabeth who had been waiting in solitude and silence for God to fulfil His designs, received a visit from the Mother of God, and the Precursor and the Messias Who was to come were brought into close contact. We cannot doubt that it was at that moment when, as Elizabeth said "the infant in my womb leaped for joy," that John was "filled with the Holy Ghost." Thus God cleansed His Precursor before his birth from the stain of original sin, again showing us that those who are to prepare for the Coming of His Son must be distinguished by their purity.

(4) By the holiness of his mother and his home. His mother taught by the Holy Spirit was the first to recognize Our Lady as the Mother of God; she was saluted by Our Lady and ministered to by her. She had the unspeakable privilege of having Our Lady with the blessed Fruit of her womb Jesus living under her roof for three months. A home where the Mother of God was welcomed and honoured – such was the home God chose for the Precursor of His Son.

Point II. The Preparation after his birth

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came to bear witness of the Light, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people." (The "Gradual" for the Vigil of St. John the Baptist). The Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist is a Double of the First Class with an Octave, for Mary and her Son were present at his birth and he was "great before the Lord."

The eighth day was the day of circumcision and the naming day. Everybody naturally was calling him Zachary, but his mother who knew from her husband that the name was fixed, said: "Not so, but he shall be called John." They would not have it and appealed by signs to the deaf and dumb father, who wrote: "John is his name," for "he was so named of the angel before he was conceived." At that moment Zachary's penance came to an end and "he spoke blessing God." This fresh miracle was soon "noised abroad" and the people asked in fear: "What an one, think ye, shall this child be?" Zachary, "filled with the Holy Ghost," used his loosed tongue to sing his beautiful hymn of praise to God who had remembered His holy testament, and had allowed "the Orient from on high" to visit them. And then addressing his little son, he said: "And thou child shalt be called the prophet of the Highest, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways."

He began to "prepare His ways" by a life of hardship, solitude and penance, having no fixed home, living on what he could find in the deserts – locusts and wild honey, and wearing as a garment camels' hair with a leathern girdle. Tradition tells us he began all this at a very early age and he continued it "until the day of his manifestation to Israel," that is, until the day he left his solitude and began to preach – nearly thirty years later. He had thirty years' preparation for his life's work, like Him whose way he was preparing, and he was preparing it no less as a solitary in the deserts than as the great preacher of penance by the Jordan.

What lessons can we learn for our own preparation for the Coming of Christ this Advent?

1. That because we are going to be amongst those who in some way or other "prepare His ways," God has occupied Himself with our preparation even before we were born. Either by surrounding us with good, or by bringing good out of evil or by some of His many ways which are not our ways, He has had a hand in all that concerns us. We have first firmly to believe this, and secondly to co-operate with all God's designs for us, as John did.

2. That if we would prepare the ways of Christ we must be familiar with His Mother, accustomed to receiving her salutations and to returning them. That we must have her to live with us and take an interest in all that concerns us. Who could better help us to prepare for the Coming of her Son than His own Mother?

3. That we must be filled with the Holy Spirit and never turn Him out of our hearts by sin. It would be useless to try to prepare the way for Christ if we had not the co-operation of the Holy Spirit.

4. That penance in one form or another must have a share in our preparation for the Coming of Christ. All we know of John from the time of his infancy till he began his mission is that "he was in the deserts." It was not that he preferred such a life, but he felt that it was the one most suited to his own preparation for the Messias, for during those long years in the deserts he was preparing the way of Christ in his own heart; during his mission he prepared it in the hearts of others. Solitude, fasting, lack of ease and comfort, coarse clothing – these were the allies which John chose to aid him in his preparation for the Coming of the King, for His "Kingdom is not of this world" and "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal" (2 Cor. x. 4). He was consecrated to God, and he separated himself from everything that might interfere with his entire consecration.

Colloquy.

(1) With God the Father Who has chosen me to prepare the ways of His Son.

(2) With Him Who is coming.

(3) With God the Holy Ghost Who is co-operating with me.

(4) With Our Lady who is ready to let me do all my work by her side. (Ecclus. xxiv. 30).

(5) With St. John the Baptist who will obtain for me, if I ask him, the spirit of penance.

Resolution. To examine myself to-day as to the place penance is having in my Advent, and if it has none, to fix at least one daily penitential act.

Spiritual Bouquet. "He was in the deserts."

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. (2)

His Mission

"In those days cometh John the Baptist preaching in the desert of Judea… preaching the baptism of penance unto remission of sins."
(St. Matt. iii. 1. and St. Mark i. 4).

1st. Prelude. John preaching and baptizing by the Jordan.

2nd. Prelude. Gratitude to the "Friend of the Bridegroom" for pointing Him out to the Bride.

Point I. The Prophet

When John was about thirty years of age the "word of the Lord" (St. Luke iii. 2) reached him in his solitude, just as it had done all the prophets of old from Samuel down to Malachias, but since then, that is for a period of four hundred years, God had spoken through no prophet. As a result of this "word" the "Prophet of the Highest" came into all the country about the Jordan – a large area – and began his mission. His arrival made a great stir and the people flocked to see and hear him. There "went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the country about Jordan." All classes went – publicans, soldiers, even the Pharisees and Sadducees, for if this man were really a prophet sent from God, it behoved them to know all about him. What did the multitudes see? A man wearing a "garment of camels' hair and a leathern girdle about his loins," whose food consisted of locusts and wild honey – a man as the Angel Gabriel had prophesied "in the spirit and power of Elias" (see iv Kings i. 8). What did they hear? A voice of one crying in the desert: "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight His paths." (St. Matt. iii. 3). And what were their conclusions? That this was he who was spoken of by Isaias the prophet (verse 3), that he was "sent from God" (St. John i. 6) and that he "came for a witness, to give testimony of the light" (St. John i. 7). What light? The "Light of the world." John came to proclaim that the dawn which the world had been so long watching was on the point of giving place to day, that the "Sun of justice" was even now rising with "health in His wings" for those that feared God's name, and that they must go forth to meet him (Mal. iv. 2).

I too must go forth. What am I going to do to-day which will prove to myself, to my Guardian Angel, to my Patron Saint, to Mary my Mother and to Him Who is coming that I am preparing the way of the Lord?

Point II. His Preaching

John came "preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins" (St. Luke iii. 3). His voice was like that of a herald proclaiming a great event that was close at hand. "Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (St. Matt. iii. 2). The Messias is coming to set up His Kingdom. He Whom you have so long expected is close to you, prepare for Him. Then John told them shortly and explicitly how to prepare: (1) "To believe in Him Who was to come" (Acts xix. 4). (2) To repent of their sins and bring forth fruits worthy of penance such as fasting and self-denial (St. Mark ii. 18). (3) To confess their sins (St. Mark i. 5). (4) To be baptized as a sign of hope that their sins had been forgiven. John's baptism could not wash away sin, for it was no sacrament, St. Paul, as well as St. Mark and St. Luke, called it the "Baptism of penance" (Acts xix. 4). It was a baptism which proclaimed to all that he who submitted to it acknowledged himself to be a sinner and a penitent.

John the Baptist was greatly in earnest, for the time was short; he spoke very plainly to those whom he noticed coming to be baptized out of curiosity or human respect without any repentance or intention of doing penance. He warned them of the wrath of God which would fall upon sinners who persisted in their sin, of the folly of thinking that all was well with them because they had Abraham for their father; he told them that every tree which did not yield good fruit would be cut down and cast into the fire, that He Who was coming and was even now so nigh would divide all people into two classes – the wheat and the chaff, and that the great winnowing fan was already in His Hand.

The people then began to feel uncomfortable and alarmed, and anxious to make sure that they were not going to be blown away as chaff, or burnt "with unquenchable fires" by the Mighty One Who was coming; and different classes began to ask John what they must do. His answers were singularly appropriate and confirmed the opinion that he was indeed a prophet. To the people generally he counselled charity, kindness and brotherly love as the best possible preparation; to the public tax-collectors, who grew rich on the sums that they demanded in excess of the fixed tax, that they should do nothing more than that which was appointed; to the soldiers, that they should avoid violence and calumny and be content with their pay (St. Luke iii. 10-14). He showed clearly by his straight and simple answers that the best way for us to prepare for Him Who is coming, is to look into our daily life and occupations and change anything and everything that we know He would find faulty.

Point III. His Baptism

One after another the people made up their minds to change their evil lives and bad habits. They made their good resolutions and as a proof of their sorrow for the past and firm purpose of amendment for the future, they went into the Jordan confessing their sins, and John baptized them. He told them then that He Who was coming was mightier than himself, and that He would baptize them with the Holy Ghost and fire. "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan unto John to be baptized by him!" Where had He come from? Straight from His home, from Nazareth, from His Mother. He had come to fulfil John's prophecy, to begin His public ministry to the people, and He would begin it by identifying Himself with them. They were sinners, coming to confess their sins and He would be numbered with the transgressors (Isaias iii. 12). "But John stayed Him, saying: I ought to be baptized by Thee, and comest Thou to me?" (St. Matt. iii. 14). Though they were cousins it is probable that they had not met since their early childhood. One had lived in the seclusion of Nazareth and the other in the seclusion of the desert. "I knew Him not," (St. John i. 31, 33) John said. It was probably the fact of someone coming for the baptism of penance who had no sins to confess that made John suspect and then protest; but he could not resist the gentle, authoritative words: "Suffer it to be so now, for so it becometh Us to fulfil all justice." Then when He had gone out of the water John saw a wonderful sight – he described it himself: "I saw the Spirit coming down as a dove from Heaven and He remained upon Him; and I knew Him not, but He Who sent me to baptize with water said to me: He upon Whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, He it is That baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw; and I gave testimony, that this is the Son of God." (St. John i. 32-34). He knew Him now – there was no longer any doubt, no more time of waiting and preparation, He Who should come had come. God Himself pointed Him out to the faithful Precursor – a voice from Heaven said: "This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased" (St. Matt. iii. 17). What a reward for John after his life of solitude and penance and mortification – to be in close contact with the Son of God, to see the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, and to hear the Voice of God the Father, and thus have the seal set to his mission! "And I saw; and I gave testimony."

And what have the waters of Jordan to say? That He, over Whose Sacred Head they closed, has, by the contact of His precious Body, sanctified them and all other waters and given them power, when they are in contact with His mystical Body to wash away sin. Jesus went down to John in the Jordan not to receive a gift, but to impart one. From henceforth the waters will bring forth abundantly and God will say of His new creation, as He did in the beginning, that it is good. All three Persons of the Blessed Trinity were present at this new creation, the Holy Spirit brooded over the face of the waters for this new baptism was the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, the Voice of the Lord was upon the waters (Ps. xxviii. 3), the Voice, that is, of the Father proclaiming that He was well pleased, not only with His "Beloved Son" but with this first act of His public ministry; for in Him He saw a countless multitude coming out of the sanctified water, and of each one He will say: "This is My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."

"O Almighty Eternal God, preside over the mysteries of Thy great mercy, preside over Thy sacraments and send forth the Spirit of adoption to regenerate the new people, whom the font of Baptism brings forth to Thee" (Prayer for the Blessing of the Font on Holy Saturday).

Colloquy. "Grant we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that Thy servants may walk in the way of salvation; and by following the exhortation of Blessed John the Precursor may securely attain the possession of Him Whom He foretold, Our Lord Jesus Christ." (Collect for the Vigil of St. John the Baptist).

Resolution. To "prepare His ways" to-day.

Spiritual Bouquet. "Blessed John the Baptist … pray to the Lord our God for us."

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. (3)

His Testimony

"This man came for a witness to give witness of the Light, that all men might believe through Him."
(St. John i. 7).

1st. Prelude. "John stood and two of his disciples and beholding Jesus walking, he saith: Behold the Lamb of God." (verses 35, 36).

2nd. Prelude. Grace so to hear his testimony that we follow Jesus.

Point I. "That He may be made manifest therefore am I come" (verse 31)

This was all John wanted, all he cared about, it was his vocation, it was the point of his long years of mortification, the reason for his preaching and baptism; he was a man of one idea – the Christ is coming, I must manifest Him to the people. This man came for a witness to give testimony of the Light (verse 7). When the people wondering asked him: Art thou the Christ? Art thou Elias? Art thou the prophet? his answer was: No, I am only a voice proclaiming His coming. I, He? Oh, no, I am not worthy to be His slave. He is the Light, the Light of the whole world. "I saw the Spirit coming down as a dove from Heaven and He remained upon Him… And I saw; and I gave testimony that this is the Son of God" (verses 32-34).

Let me look at my preparation for His coming this Advent and see whether I am in any way following in the footsteps of the great Precursor. Can I be said to be a person of one idea – that of manifesting my Lord to others? When people want to make much of me and my work and ask who I am, is my one thought to turn their eyes from me to Him Who is coming? Am I really persuaded that I am only here to make Him manifest? Is He being made manifest to others through me? Do those with whom I come in contact leave me, with a greater knowledge of Him, with a greater desire for His coming, with more anxiety about the salvation of their souls and with more zeal for that of others? Do my words and deeds, does my very manner, speak to them of Him and make them think of Him? "Art thou the Christ?" In one sense, yes, for I am or ought to be another Christ (alter Christus), living His life, doing His work and representing Him in the world.

Point II. "Behold the Lamb of God."

This is He, behold Him! He is the Lamb of God. He it is to whom all the lambs that have been sacrificed point; their blood could not wash away sin, but "behold Him who taketh away the sin of the world." You are sorry for your sins, you have confessed them and I have baptized you as a sign that they are forgiven, now there is One among you who takes them away. Behold the Lamb of God! This was what John said when he saw Jesus the day after His baptism; he said the same thing the next day when he saw Him walking by the Jordan; two of his disciples were with him, Andrew and John (probably), and when they saw their master pointing to Jesus and saying: "Behold the Lamb of God!" they did what John meant them to do, they left their master and followed Him. How well had the faithful Precursor prepared the way in their hearts! How thoroughly he had done his work! How absolutely he had effaced himself! There was no doubt, no hesitation in the minds of his disciples, no wondering whether John would mind; "they followedJesus," and John had the joy of seeing Jesus turn and speak to them: "What seek you?" And then the joy of hearing them call Him Master. "Master, where dwellest Thou?" "Come and see." Then the Friend of the Bridegroom saw the three going away together, and he knew that his mission had not been in vain, the Bride was beginning to join the Bridegroom.

Point III. "He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom."

It was not for nothing that Andrew and John spent that day with Jesus. They told others what they had found: "We have found the Messias, which is being interpreted the Christ," and they brought their companions one by one to Jesus, with the result that very soon the Baptism of the Holy Ghost was taking place in the Jordan as well as the Baptism of Penance, and the people instructed by John left the less for the greater.

There were "busybodies," as St. Paul calls them (1 Tim. v. 13), even in those days, people who could not let others alone, who could not understand the situation or pretended that they could not; they "came to John and said to him: Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond the Jordan, to Whom thou gavest testimony, behold He baptizeth and all men come to Him" (St. John iii. 26). They were words calculated to stir up jealousy and ill-feeling; but John was too humble and too great to be disturbed by them, his answer was characteristic: "You yourselves do bear me witness, that I said that I am not Christ, but that I am sent before Him. He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom." There is the proof that all I have been telling you is true. He has the Bride, the people all go to Him, you see for yourselves that He must be the Bridegroom; "but the Friend of the Bridegroom, who standeth and heareth Him, rejoiceth with joy because of the Bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled." It was enough for "the Friend of the Bridegroom" to hear His Master's voice. The necessity for him and his preaching was fast passing away and he knew it. He had been for a time the great man, the popular preacher, the one every one talked about, whose advice everyone sought, now he must stand aside and see his disciples gather round another master, himself not in the group at all. It is a position most workers in God's vineyard find themselves in sooner or later, they have to give place to others, to watch others reaping the fruit of their labours, to see those whom they have taught going to other teachers, those who have sought their advice seeking it elsewhere. How do they bear this difficult situation? How am I going to bear it when my turn comes? Am I going to pose as a martyr, craving for and expecting every one's sympathy? Am I going to put difficulties in the way of those who succeed me, and make it hard for those to whom it has been my privilege to minister? Some are even jealous and show their displeasure by criticizing those who succeed them! What was John's attitude? All he wanted was his Master and His Will. He was the "Friend of the Bridegroom." He was satisfied to stand on one side, and his cup of joy was full when he heard his Master's Voice. "He must increase" in the minds of the people "and I must decrease." Let me learn a lesson from John the Baptist and make my sacrifice beforehand, remembering that nothing matters so long as I am the friend of the Bridegroom, can hear His Voice and see the souls I have tried to help following Him. These are joys, real joys, and they are perhaps never fully realized till the cool shade of the background is reached.