We interrupt the cycle of ordinary time this weekend with a feast that celebrates the birth of John the Baptist, one of only three births commemorated by the Church; the other two being the births of Jesus and his mother, Mary. The Church does so for good reason for John’s birth marks the dawning of a new era, God’s salvation. Even before he was born, John leaped for joy knowing that he was in the presence of Jesus, whom he would herald as the savior of Israel.
We think of John the Baptist as the last of many biblical prophets before Jesus arrived on the scene. We tend to think of prophets as people who predict the future, but the prophets, like John, whom we encounter in scripture, were sent to proclaim God’s truth often times to reluctant listeners.
As a prophet, John heralded a baptism of repentance, challenging the moral laxity of his times. The people then knew that they needed to repent: to change their hearts, to change their lives, to change their attitudes. They knew that they had fallen short of living up to God’s expectations of them. Many came from near and far to be baptized by John. But not everyone chose to repent. Recall that John ended up being imprisoned and eventually beheaded for publicly confronting King Herod for his sexual misdeeds.
Truth is not necessarily something that we want to hear either and yet if we truly want to experience the salvation that Jesus comes to offer, God’s truth cannot be ignored.
By virtue of our baptism, we are also called to be prophets. We are called to be a voice proclaiming the presence of the Lord and his truth in our midst, just as John did in his day. Do our values, conduct, and principles reflect that? Alas, we live in a world where few see little need to be saved. We live in a materialistic society that is convinced that happiness can be purchased. We live in a society that feels if an act is legal than it isn’t wrong. We live in a society where many try to find happiness through a myriad of addictions, ranging from alcohol to opioids, from marijuana to pornography, from masturbation to gambling.
God sends prophets to convince people that happiness cannot be purchased nor found in the midst of addictions. Happiness is God’s gift to those who heed his truth, which includes recognizing our need to repent. While we often ask for the Lord’s mercy, do you honestly feel the need to be forgiven for what you have done or failed to do? When was the last time you repented by going to confession?
Many people are duped into thinking that what they do isn’t sinful. They don’t realize that Satan has brainwashed us into thinking that our misdeeds aren’t sinful. At Priest Days last week, we listened to several speakers address the issue of restoring relationships. They woke us up to the inherent dangers of addictions like pornography and masturbation, which are usually ignored or downplayed.
Pornography and its cousin, masturbation, can affect the mind, like alcohol or drugs, releasing chemicals that weaken or overpower the will. These things not only destroy the addict but also damage relationships and the people in their lives. The devil uses these addictions to take control of people’s lives, fooling them into seeing them as sources of happiness when in fact they are sources of misery and pain. Before a person falls into immoral behavior, the devil says, “It’s no big deal. After all, everyone does it.” I know because I have heard that tune more than once myself and regret that I was duped into sin. When that temptation arises, your best response is to tell the devil, “Go to hell.”
Then remind yourself that by virtue of your baptism, you belong to God, who unconditionally loves you, and created you, and redeemed you at a great price, the blood of his son, Jesus. The battle to resist the devil is not yours to fight alone for God offers you assistance to do so. John the Baptist always pointed to Jesus and so should we.
As prophets, we should challenge those who dismiss God’s divine truth as being irrelevant. Immoral choices, long considered acceptable by our culture, can lead to deep problems, not just spiritually, but also emotionally and physically. Our world can be saved when it begins to accept the divine truth and let go of the many ways the devil has brainwashed us into seeking happiness elsewhere at the expense of our health, our well being, and our relationships.
Today we honor a man who was a son of the desert, a devotee of silence, solitude and serious communication with God. In our modern noise-filled environment where the tools of instant communication fill our lives with no respite, John calls us to stop, pause and devote serious time daily to silence, prayer, and communion with God.
In a culture of materialism and indulgence, John is calling us to sobriety and simplicity of lifestyle. He is telling us not to smother the longing for God in a flurry of immediate pleasures. In a time when relativism is often seen as the only truth, John calls us to be bold prophets of God’s truth. Just as he confronted Herod because of his immoral deeds, he calls us to allow our faith and God’s will to direct our decisions and attitudes, warning us against the tendency to “go along to get along” and not be duped by the evil one.
Twenty centuries later, this prophet still says to us, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.