Preparing the Way for the Lord A Reflection for Thursday June 24th, 2014 Nativity of John the Baptist Feast Day By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFD, Mission Saints Sergius and Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy missionstsergius.org In preparing this reflection for the feast commemorating the birth of John the Baptist, I have chosen to base my reflection on Acts of the Apostles chapter 13 verses 24-26 John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel; and as John was completing his course, he would say, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet. “My brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those others among you who are God-fearing, to us this word of salvation has been sent.” The John that is mentioned in the reading is Saint John the Baptist whose feast we celebrate this day. John fulfilled the prophesy found in Isaiah 40: 3-5 “A voice of one calling: In the desert prepare the way for the LORD make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” In a world where every day we read about the famine in Africa, Religious Sectarian wars raging in Iran, Syria and Iraq and taking innocent lives their young people, where Religious denominations are being split apart over man made rules and forms of worshiping and how one praises Almighty God, and a world where wealth and fame seem to be more important than charity and compassion. In a world that is willing to overlook the needs of the elderly and poor and with medical costs preventing some people from having a decent quality of life and access to affordable health care, we need to look seriously at this direction found in Romans 12 which says; “So I say this to every one of you. Do not think you are better than you really are. But think of yourself as you are. You are what you are because God has given you something when you believed. In a body there are many parts, but all the parts do not do the same thing. In the same way, we are many people. But we are one body because we are all joined together in Christ. Each one of us is a part of all the others. A few days ago Pope Francis advised us to not judge people unless we are willing to be judged by the same standards and to never forget that God is the only person who can judge us; this is what he Said; “Stop judging, so that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will measured out to you.” “He who judges a brother is wrong and will eventually be judged the same way. God is the sole judge and whoever is judged can always rely on the defense of Jesus, his first defender, and also the Holy Spirit,” He who judges another puts himself in the role of God, the only judge” Pope Francis renounced those who judge others, calling them hypocrites and comparing them to Satan. People all seem too ready to make judgments about people and some even have the audacity to claim that some will end up in hell because they are not members of the correct church, or because they have the audacity to love someone. On this feast honoring John the Baptist birth is a good time to reflect on the teachings of the man John called; “One who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. If everyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ actually lived their life in accordance the teaching found in scripture about how we should treat each other since we are all brothers and sisiters in Christ and children of God we might be able to live in peace with one another, end poverty, injustice, discrimination, violence, and bring about a time when the prime commandments of Jesus Christ, “Love the lord, your God, with your whole heart, mind, soul and body and Love your neighbor as yourself” “Love one another as I have Loved You” is actually realized and lived by all people. When Christ was baptized by John we read the following in Matthew: 16-17 “After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” I am certain that Almighty God would say to us the following; “Well done my good and faithful servant” if we actually began to life every day of our life doing and actively performing all that Romans 12 instructs. If each and every one who claims to be a Christian, did all that is found there, the world would be a place of peace and harmony and people who find violence and discrimination to be a thing of the past. I close this reflection with the following prayer. Grant, we pray, almighty God, that your family may walk in the way of salvation and, attentive to what Saint John the Precursor urged, and by living in accord with what the promised of the ages whom John prepared the way for, we may come safely to the One he foretold, our Lord Jesus Christ. I ask this in the name of your beloved son, Jesus Christ, who lives, and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. AMEN
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 12:36:09 +0000