JOHN THE BAPTIST -
How could this great saint inspire young Catholics in the way we live?
Ok... so it has been around 9 months since I last posted on my blog! I will have to explain it all on another blogpost in the future! But for the meantime, I couldn't pass up on this opportunity to talk a little about John the Baptist, whose feast we celebrated yesterday.
In case you don't know, we're approaching the launch of a "YEAR OF FAITH" starting October. Like the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptist is a pretty awesome model of faith to follow, and by his example, there is always something new we can learn and adopt into our way of living!
Let me take 3 things that strikes me about St. John the Baptist, and share with you how he inspires me.
1) The man was fearless! It doesn't seem that he was ashamed or afraid of anything. Remember... John the Baptist (I'll abbreviate from hereon 'J the B') faced execution by beheading (Mt 14:10), after he told Herod that he was wrong to commit adultery with his brother's wife Herodias (Mk 6:18), after he lived and preached in the wilderness wearing "clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey" (Mk 1:6)... could you imagine what his reputation must have been like?! How does this inspire me? Well... he was a bit mad. And rather outrageous! Which I both like and admire. He knew what he was about; he knew what God called him to do: to prepare the way for Jesus and eternal life. He did it in complete faith, remaining faithful to the Truth, living in full hope of the Messiah's mission. He served humanity in charity by baptising them... readying them for their salvation.
2) Simple living was his trend! He ate locusts and wild honey. And wore... hair! Need I say more? Sometimes I just think... if every single mobile phone owner put their mobile phones away on the same day for just one day, we'd all learn something of what it means to live simply.
3) He never failed to proclaim the truth; always bearing witness to that living Truth. From Elizabeth's womb, J the B rejoiced with joy at the presence of his Lord (Lk 1:41). Do you not think that the attention he received because of his outrageousness could have tempted him to become prideful and attempt to overshadow Jesus, who at this point hadn't yet made a name for Himself? Jesus ministry and preaching only began after His baptism, which was ministered through J the B. If he wanted to, J the B could have decided not to baptise the Messiah, thus changing the outcome of what the Scriptures prophesised. Instead, he said the very poignant phrase "HE must increase, but I must decrease" (Jn 3:30). He came to prepare the way for Jesus, as the greatest of prophets, calling all to repentance. Big word: repentance. That's a word for another blog post altogether. But look here at the point I make... J the B put himself last. He died to himself, and put Christ first. Perhaps one of the key aspects of repentance, is to acknowledge and embrace a humble state of being. For most young people today, I'll rephrase that to mean: be less selfish, and think less of the "I" and more of the "you".
This is not an easy concept to grasp, because it takes a while to even recognise that we think so much in terms of "I want", "I like", "I wish", "I don't", "I hate", "I am". These aren't necessarily bad directions to be thinking, but they could be if we turn them into words or actions which close off the gift of charity and love we are called to offer others by God.
The nativity of St. John the Baptist is the only saint's birth date, other than the Blessed Virgin Mary's, that the Catholic Church celebrates. Taking place 6 months before Christmas day, when in Europe, the days begin to get shorter (a great analogy for the idea of J the B decreasing, to make way for the Lord), there is something uber special about this day. It's forever marked as a feast of one who we can learn to love, and be inspired by. So what are my tips?
a) Be fearless (yet prudent) in proclaiming the faith! Don't worry about what your mates will think about you... if they were really your mates, they would be interested in what you live your life for.
b) Detach yourself from overspending on things what you don't really need. Think about this one... unselfishly.
c) Try spend a day thinking about all the others around you, and how your presence impacts them. It wouldn't hurt to put a smile on everyone's face... trust me, you'll find it quite a rewarding task. Get this nailed, and the year of faith will become attractive to you.
