by Dr. Jacob Mathew, Malankara World

If you had been following the church lectionary, we had taken a giant leap in the past weeks. Jesus was born; he was taken to Egypt to save from the wrath of Herod; he returned back to Nazareth after Herod's death; he underwent baptism by John the Baptist and is ready to start his Public Ministry. In the mean time, we also read the story of John the Baptist: his birth, his ministry and his martyrdom. We cover about 31 years of history in a period of one month.

If you study and meditate on these stories, you will be impressed by John the Baptist. His life foreshadows the life of Jesus very closely. The angel tells Zachariah that he will have a son. Zachariah, inspired by Holy Spirit, tells those gathered around for the naming ceremony of John, that John will be a prophet of the almighty God - the last prophet before the arrival of the messiah. John, even when he was hidden from the world - in his mother's womb - recognized the presence of the "word" when Mary visits Elizabeth after the annunciation. John's message was same as Jesus', "Repent, the Kingdom of God is at hand." He also murdered for preaching the truth just like Jesus would a few years later.

But John knew his role very well. He is there to prepare the path for the messiah. He is just a man; but one who follows him is the son of God. (He is the voice of the desert; Jesus is the "word".) It was important that he has to decrease, so that Jesus can increase. Most of the people believed that John was the messiah; but John was very clear that he was not. This is remarkable; most people would have enjoyed the limelight. The humility, faith and obedience of John the Baptist are noteworthy. He is someone to emulate.

This is what Pope John Paul II said of John the Baptist:

John "the Baptist" was placed by God's providence immediately before the Messiah, in order to prepare the way before him by his preaching and by the witness of his life.

John the Baptist is the model for witness to Christ along with modern martyrs.

John the Baptist is an enduring model of fidelity to God and his Law. John prepared the way for Christ by the testimony of his word and his life. Imitate him with docile and trusting generosity.

St John the Baptist is above all a model of faith. Following the example of the great Prophet Elijah, in order to listen more attentively to the word of the one Lord of his life, he leaves everything and withdraws to the desert, from which he would issue the resounding call to prepare the way of the Lord (cf. Mt 3,3 and parallels).

He is a model of humility, because to those who saw in him not only a Prophet, but the Messiah himself, he replied: "Who do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie" (Acts 13,25).

He is a model of uprightness and courage in defending the truth, for which he was prepared to pay in his person, even to the point of imprisonment and death.

An article in 'A Christian Pilgrim' explained the important role played by John the Baptist in preparing the way for Jesus Christ:

John the Baptist spoke the word of God to princes and kings, to priests and people alike, with little regard for the consequences. Like the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 1:17-19), he spoke out against the tide of moral corruption and spiritual apathy that characterized Israel's leaders at that time. He stood for God's righteousness and spoke out fearlessly when whose in leadership were making a mockery of the law of the Lord. Ultimately, he paid the price for his faithfulness to God – it cost him his head.

John's life and execution witnessed to and foreshadowed the life and death of Jesus. The Baptizer decreased his importance to glorify Jesus, just as Jesus glorified His Father in heaven. As a matter of fact, when Herod first heard of Jesus, he believed Him to be John risen from the dead (Mk 6:16).

Finally, what can we learn from the life of John the Baptist? The article goes on:

All Christians face challenges similar to the ones that John faced. Who among us hasn't had to swim against the prevailing culture – and paid a price for it – in trying to maintain our commitment to Jesus? Who hasn't experienced some form of persecution or harassment for their beliefs? There is a saying that Jesus came not just to comfort the troubled, but to trouble the comfortable as well. Doesn't this in some way describe our presence as Christians in the world?

In practice, this may mean holding unpopular positions in your school or workplace. It may mean being called "backward" or "old-fashioned" because of your beliefs or lifestyle. When you seek to share the Gospel, you may be rejected or accused of meddling or imposing your beliefs. In my own country, Indonesia, people call it "Christianization". That, however, has always been the experience of God's servants. Faithfulness to God and the Lord Jesus can be costly.

Despite rejection or persecution, the promise that we can hold onto – which the prophet Jeremiah and John the Baptist held onto – is that God is always with us and He will strengthen us. He suffers with those who suffer, and He offers endless depths of consolation and encouragement. He will continue to form us and teach us how to minister His truth with love and compassion, and He will continue to strengthen us for whatever struggles lie ahead. If John could handle months in prison and even martyrdom, we can handle whatever is given to us – not by our might or natural endurance, but by hiding ourselves in the presence of God.

As our Holy Qurbana starts, as the curtain is drawn back for the Public Celebration (The Liturgy of Catechumens), we first see the John the Baptist. The altar assistant precedes the priest in holding a lighted candle. This represent John the Baptist, who preceded the Christ. The priest exhorts,

"Mary, who brought You forth and John who baptized You, shall be suppliants to You on our behalf. Have mercy upon us."

Our church teaches us that both St. Mary, the Mother of God, and John the Baptist, who prepared the way for the Messiah, were the two key persons God used in His plan for the redemption of the fallen mankind, the mission of Jesus Christ. John's life faded as Jesus began his public ministry. The candle held by the altar assistant, indicating the presence of John, is unlit and disappears, as the priest reads the Gospel, symbolizing the Public Ministry of Jesus. John is no more.

Jesus said about John the Baptist,

This is he of whom it is written:

'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way before You.'

For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
Luke 7:27-28 (NKJV)

by Dr. Mark Giszczak

Scripture: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11

Consequences can be discouraging. We've all been there - after losing a game, after failing a test, after botching a job interview, after alienating a friend, after over-spending, after making an embarrassing mistake. How we respond to failure is a huge test of our character. It is tempting to give in to discouragement, to let yourself be overwhelmed by the taste of failure, to give up. At those moments of crisis, we often need a word of encouragement, of help and reassurance. If we don't hear hope, don't see a way forward, upward and out of our despair, then we can get lost in its sinking spiral. In this Sunday's first reading, Isaiah offers a word of encouragement to the ancient Israelites and to us.

Context

In the very first words of Handel's Messiah, the tenor soloist sings out in warm tones Isaiah's message of hope: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God." The people had failed. They had been unfaithful to God. They had suffered the consequences. They were banished from Jerusalem. Their temple was torn down. They wept by the streams of Babylon. They "received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins" (Isa 40:2 RSV). It was a multi-generational failure. If you read through Samuel, Kings and Chronicles, you can see the momentum of judgment build as king after king fails to be faithful to the Lord and leads the people into idolatry. No one felt this failure more acutely than those who witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and were carried off into exile. By this point in the text, Isaiah has pounded out thirty-nine chapters of judgment, thoroughly condemning the sinful practices of the people, but now is the moment where things turn.

The Babylon of Sin

Most of us have never been physically exiled from our homeland, however, we might have found ourselves under the reign of sin (see Rom 5:21). In fact, sin can be so powerful that it can enslave us (Rom 6:17) and function as an overlord dragging us away from true life before God into a spiritual exile in "Babylon." Sin is so enticing because it appears to deliver happiness as a shortcut around all the hard work, self-discipline, and dedication to others that we know happiness really requires. Sin pretends to answer our longings in the way that Babylon seemed to be a great ally for ancient Judah. However, when the Babylonians sent ambassadors to visit King Hezekiah (as Isaiah reports immediately before our reading), and he showed them all the wealth of Jerusalem, they shrewdly decided to turn their prospective partners into cowering subjects and soon conquered Judah. Sin similarly pretends to be our partner, but ends up being our master. It tempts us by leading us to think we can control it, regulate it, limit its influence, but soon we can find ourselves controlled and overpowered by it. Sin appears to answer our cry for freedom, but actually forces us into servitude. True freedom lies in freedom from the slavery of sin.

Speak to the Heart

Translators are always traitors. Here in Isaiah 40:2, they usually take the Hebrew to say "speak tenderly to Jerusalem," but literally it says, "speak to the heart of Jerusalem." The people are discouraged after the time of judgment and exile and need some heartening words to lift their chins and re-embrace the covenant which God offers to them. The same applies to us. We need hope. We need to believe. We need to know that things can get better, that we can change, that we can love. This reading stirs the ingredients for hope in our hearts. It points out the power of a word of encouragement in a time a crisis. The hope-filled waiting of Advent reminds us that our slavery to sin and our "bondage to decay" (Rom 8:21) is temporary. A little baby will come on that extraordinary day at Bethlehem and set us free.

A Straight and Smooth Path

John the Baptist famously quotes these words of Isaiah to explain himself: "the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight" (Mark 1:3). He sees himself, dressed in camel hair and dunking people in the Jordan as a new kind of prophet, a forerunner, who makes way for the Messiah. But often, we hear about straight paths and flattened mountains without getting the idea behind it. In ancient Israel, you would never find a nice, straight, smooth road. If you had to travel, you'd be making do with cart paths, donkey trails, and winding roads that were not always well-maintained and avoided hills, mountains, and other obstacles. For us highway-driving moderns, travel would be a frustrating experience.

The crooked trails must have been annoying for the ancients too, because they constantly use "straightness" as a metaphor for righteousness: "he will make straight your paths" (Prov 3:6), "the blameless keeps his way straight" (Prov 11:5). A straight path was a sign that things were well in order and served as a powerful symbol for keeping God's law. Not only was it desirable for one's path to be straight, but broad and smooth as well. When Isaiah hammers home the metaphor with valley-raising, and mountain-flattening, he is highlighting the power of loving, covenantal obedience to the Lord. By faithfully keeping his word in the "wilderness" of Babylon or in the "Babylon" of sin, we prepare our hearts to receive what he has to offer. We can then receive the glad tidings of the personified Jerusalem, crying aloud from her mountain-top soapbox. What we find is not an angry God coming in judgment, but a shepherd-like king who carries the lambs in his arms. In fact, we find a baby.

By Father Mark

Birth, Passion, Death

The Church gives us two feastdays of Saint John the Baptist each year: the first to mark his nativity, and another feast to mark his passion and death. We celebrate the nativity of Saint John the Baptist because, unlike everyone else with the exception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, John was born in holiness. Our Lord Jesus Christ sanctified John when both of them were still hidden in the wombs of their mothers. The grace of hiddenness marks the life of Saint John the Baptist from the beginning.

Appearance and Disappearance

Jesus hidden in Mary approached John hidden in Elizabeth and, when the voice of the Holy Mother of God reached the ears of Elizabeth, the babe in her womb leaped for joy (cf. Lk 1:44). Although John, like all men, was conceived marked by Adam's sin, he was born already touched by the saving grace of Christ mediated by His Immaculate Mother. Clearly, a child born in such extraordinary circumstances was destined by the Lord for even greater things. At the peak of summer on June 24th we celebrated the appearance of John the Baptist. Today, as summer begins to fade, we celebrate his disappearance.

More Than A Prophet

"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" (Lk 1:76). John the Forerunner is a prophet and he is more than a prophet. By his preaching he speaks truth in the boldness of the Holy Spirit. By his captivity, passion and death, he prefigures the Suffering Servant, the immolated Lamb who takes away the sins of the world, the Victim "by whose wounds we are healed" (1P 2:24). Our Lord Himself says: "A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John" (Lk 7:27-28).

This Joy of Mine

In Jesus, John the Baptist recognizes the Light, the Christ, the Lamb of God, and the Bridegroom. "Behold the Lamb of God!" (Jn 1:29). All John's joy is to gaze upon the Face of Jesus and to hear His voice. "I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom; the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice; therefore this joy of mine is now full. He must increase but I must decrease" (Jn 3:29-30).

The Burning and Shining Lamp

John was to be visible only for a time. "He was a burning and shining lamp," says Jesus, "and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light" (Jn 5:25). John's shining light was hidden away in the darkness of a prison cell. The Bridegroom had arrived; the Friend of the Bridegroom had to disappear.

Silence

The voice of John the Forerunner was heard crying in the wilderness, denouncing sin, calling men to justice, and sinners to repentance. But then the voice of the Eternal Father was heard, coming from heaven: "Thou art my Son, the Beloved; with Thee I am well pleased" (Lk 3:22). After the voice of the Father revealing the Word was heard over the Jordan, the voice of the Baptist was heard less and less until, finally, it was silenced by death, a cruel and ignominious death not unlike the immolation of the Lamb, which it prefigured.

Today's feast obliges us to come to terms with the paradox of a hidden and silent life. Graced from the womb of his mother in view of an extraordinary mission, Saint John the Baptist served the designs of the Father for the length of time and in the place determined by the Father's loving providence. "Sent from God . . . he came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light" (Jn 1:6-8). When the Sun of Justice dawned, when the Dayspring appeared, the Forerunner could disappear. When the voice of the Bridegroom began to make itself heard, the Friend of the Bridegroom could fall silent.

In the Shadow of the Cross

John the Baptist knew that, like the grain of wheat which falls into the earth and dies in order to bear much fruit (Jn 12:24), he was destined to return to a life of silence and obscurity. John the Baptist shows us that every vocation is subject to mysterious and unexpected turns. He demonstrates that every vocation must fall beneath the shadow of the Cross, sometimes in dramatic ways, but more often in the humble obscurity of day to day existence.

Pray

Suffering is necessary if we are to decrease and allow the Lord Jesus to increase. To each of us Saint John the Baptist says: Prepare to disappear. And lest this should alarm us and cause us to tremble with fear and anxiety, John teaches us how to pray in the words of the psalmist:

Thou art my patience, O Lord:
my hope, O Lord, from my youth.
By Thee have I been confirmed from the womb:
from my mother's womb Thou art my protector.
Of Thee shall I continually sing:
I am become unto many as a wonder,
but Thou art a strong helper. (Ps 70:5-6)

The Cross

The hidden and silent life is a necessary and inescapable part of discipleship. A vocation that is not marked with the sign of the Cross is suspect. A life that is without its moments of obscurity, silence and apparent uselessness, does not bear the imprint of the Lamb. The more a soul is surrendered to the love of Christ the Bridegroom, the more deeply will that soul be marked by the Cross.

Ultimately, the sign that authenticates the mission of Saint John the Baptist is his participation in the Passion and Cross of Jesus, in Jesus' humiliation, in Jesus' going down into the valley of the shadow of death. And the sign that our vocation is blessed by God is that it is marked by the Cross.

The Sweetness of the Triumph of the Cross

One whose life is marked by the Cross cannot live without the Sacrifice of the Mass. Holy Mass allows us to taste the sweetness of the triumph of the Cross in the midst of every bitterness. Partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ does not spare us any suffering; it infuses all suffering with an irrepressible hope. "Therefore this joy of mine is now full" (Jn 3:29).

by Fr. Daren J. Zehnle

The last of the prophets has come. The Lord God sent the prophets one by one throughout the history of Israel to direct their minds and hearts to the coming of the Messiah, to the Anointed One of God who would redeem his people. Thus, Isaiah proclaimed to the people just as he proclaims to us today these many years later:

Prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley (Isaiah 40:3-4).

The message is clear: our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Heaven and Earth, is coming, and we must be prepared to welcome him upon his arrival.

We know that his coming will be most unexpected and that we "do not know when the Lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning" (Mark 13:35). Therefore we must seek to always be "ready to greet him when he comes again," as all good servants and friends are. Every parent stays awake, watches, and waits until their child returns in for the night. It should be no different with us, for our Lord commands us to "Watch!" (Mark 13:37).

The last of the prophets has come, the one of whom Isaiah foretold:

Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths" (Mark 1:2-3).

The last of the prophets is, of course, John the Baptist, for unlike the prophets who came before him, John saw and gave undeniable witness to him of whom he spoke. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the other prophets all told of the coming of the Messiah, but never did they see him. The prophets yearned for the coming of the Anointed One of Israel but their mission was not to point to him directly, but to prepare the hearts of the people for his coming. Of these prophets Jesus said to his Apostles,

Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it (Luke 10:23-24).

John the Baptist, the Forerunner of the Lord, is unlike the other prophets in this regard and because of this is also the greatest of the prophets. While Isaiah and the others told the people of the coming Messiah, John pointed to him physically. Him whom the other prophets longed to see and hear, John saw with his own eyes and heard with his own ears and pointed to with his own hand. The Messiah has come! Our King has come to us and walked among us!

The all-powerful God abandoned the glory of heaven to be born of the Virgin Mary. He lived our life, he walked our walk and talked our talk, he died our death, and rose again to the glory of Father, destroying forever the power of sin and death. We know that the Son of God will come again to raise our mortal bodies from the earth to enjoy with him forever the vision of eternal Beauty. He promised he would come to us in "a little while;" why, then, has he not yet returned in the course of these two thousand years? (John 16:16).

St. Peter addresses this very question for us today, a question that is just as real and important today as it was some two thousand years ago. The Prince of the Apostles reminds us,

Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard "delay," but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:8-9).

In his unfathomable wisdom and mercy, Christ the Lord has not yet returned in order to allow us more time to turn toward him, to confess our faults, to implore his forgiveness, and to know the immense power and peaceful gentleness of his love. Jesus has not yet returned so that we might more fully heed the words of the Baptist: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" (Matthew 3:2).

St. Peter encourages us to seek the tender mercy of the Lord pleading with us saying, "Therefore, beloved, since you await [new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells], be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him" (II Peter 3:14). We must, then, level the mountains of our pride and fill in the valleys of our greed with humility and trust. Let us make straight the wasteland of our self-centeredness; let us, through his grace, construct a highway of faith, hope, and love that he may find us eagerly awaiting his return, for

The day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out" (II Peter 3:10).

After having prepared our souls to receive the Lord and to welcome him with cries of great joy and jubilation, let us then climb the high mountain and "cry out at the top of [our] voice" (Isaiah 40:9). Let us join in the mission of John the Baptist and point out to the world the Messiah, the one for whom every soul truly longs. Let us cry out to a world desperate for the Savior,

Here is your God! Here comes with power the LORD God, who rules by his strong arm; here is his reward with him, his recompense before him. Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care (Isaiah 40:9-11).

Like John the Baptist, we must give witness to the Messiah who is coming again.

Do not say, "I have time yet to prepare. I will get ready for the Lord after I do this or that." No! The return of the King is near! We must be prepared, and the more we prepare ourselves the sooner he will come, for as Peter tells us,

Since everything is to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be, conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God (II Peter 3:11-12).

Today we realize even more what a humble man John the Baptist was. We can learn a lot about humility by considering his words and deeds.

Although John was, according to Jesus, the greatest person to have ever lived (see Matthew 11:11), John knew that Jesus was far superior to himself, since Jesus was God from heaven. Pride sneaks into our lives when we compare ourselves with others. If we know we're better at doing something than someone else, we can become prideful. If, however, we will compare ourselves with Jesus, as John did, we won't be able to become proud.

Most often, we compare ourselves with people who have similar abilities and talents. If I'm a basketball player, I don't care how good another person might be at playing the piano---I'm only interested in other basketball players. For a while, John was the most famous preacher around. Multitudes traveled great distances to hear his anointed sermons and to be baptized. But then Jesus started doing the same things as John, preaching and baptizing, and Jesus' popularity began to grow. Additionally, God gave Jesus the Holy Spirit "without measure" (John 3:34), something He didn't do for John. Thus Jesus was able to perform miracles, something John never did, and those miracles really attracted large crowds. God the Father gave Jesus "authority over everything" (John 3:35), including sicknesses and demons. Before long, hardly anyone was coming to hear John, and some of his own disciples became jealous for him.

John, however, realized his place and time in God's plan. His job was to prepare the way for Jesus. The whole idea from the beginning was that Jesus would be exalted, not John. John knew his ministry would be temporary and said of Jesus, "He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less" (John 3:30). Proud people don't want to ever let go of something God has given them, even when it's obvious that God's plan for them is that they move on to do something else because God has anointed another person to take their place. Proud people want to be recognized and appreciated more and more. Christians, however, should want Jesus to become greater in people's minds, not themselves. They should be interested in building God's kingdom and not kingdoms for themselves. They should want to be servants, not rulers.

John also knew that Jesus was the only way to heaven, and that only Jesus could give eternal life to people who believed in Him. John clearly understood that those who truly believe in Jesus obey Him. John said, "Those who don't obey the Son will never experience eternal life, but the wrath of God remains upon them" (John 3:36, emphasis added). This doesn't mean that if we commit a sin that we will go to hell, because no Christian is perfect and we all do sin at times. We know from reading the rest of the New Testament that John was talking about people who never obey Jesus, living a lifestyle of sin and selfishness. They are not submitted to Jesus at all, which proves they don't believe in Him.

Q. Could God ever be guilty of the sin of pride?

A. No, it would be impossible for God to think too highly of Himself. When He speaks of His own wonderful attributes, He isn't bragging---He's only telling the truth.

Q. Is there something that you do better than others? (Parents, this would be a good time for you to compliment your kids for things they do well, as they may think they're being proud if they respond.) Could that talent be an inroad for pride? What can you do to keep pride out?

Q. Is it prideful to say, "I'm a good swimmer" if you are a good swimmer?

A. No. Pride is having an inflated or unrealistic opinion of yourself. To say that you are a good swimmer when you are a good swimmer is simply telling the truth. But, to say that you are the world's best swimmer (unless you are) would be prideful. It's best to talk as little as possible about yourself, your abilities and your accomplishments, because even if you are just telling the truth, some people might think you are pridefully boasting. As the proverb says, "Don't praise yourself; let others do it!" (Proverbs 27:2).

Application: The Bible says that God humbles those who exalt themselves and exalts those who humble themselves. In which of these two categories do you fall?

by Frederick Buechner

Gospel: Matthew 3:1-12

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'” Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. "I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

JOHN THE BAPTIST didn't fool around. He lived in the wilderness around the Dead Sea. He subsisted on a starvation diet, and so did his disciples. He wore clothes that even the rummage-sale people wouldn't have handled. When he preached, it was fire and brimstone every time.

The Kingdom was coming all right, he said, but if you thought it was going to be a pink tea, you'd better think again. If you didn't shape up, God would give you the ax like an elm with the blight or toss you into the incinerator like chaff. He said being a Jew wouldn't get you any more points than being a Hottentot, and one of his favorite ways of addressing his congregation was as a snake pit. Your only hope, he said, was to dean up your life as if your life depended on it, which it did, and get baptized in a hurry as a sign that you had. Some people thought he was Elijah come back from the grave, and some others thought he was the Messiah, but John would have none of either. ''I'm the one yelling himself blue in the face in the wilderness;' he said, quoting Isaiah. "I'm the one trying to knock some sense into your heads" (Matthew 3:3).

One day who should show up but Jesus. John knew who he was in a second. "You're the one who should be baptizing me;' he said (Matthew 3:14), but Jesus insisted, and so they waded out into the Jordan together, and it was John who did the honors.

John apparently had second thoughts about him later on, however, and it's no great wonder. Where John preached grim justice and pictured God as a steely-eyed thresher of grain, Jesus preached forgiving love and pictured God as the host at a marvelous party or a father who can't bring himself to throw his children out even when they spit in his eye. Where John said people had better save their skins before it was too late, Jesus said it was God who saved their skins, and even if you blew your whole bankroll on liquor and sex like the Prodigal Son, it still wasn't too late. Where John ate locusts and honey in the wilderness with the church crowd, Jesus ate what he felt like in Jerusalem with as sleazy a bunch as you could expect to find. Where John crossed to the other side of the street if he saw any sinners heading his way, Jesus seems to have preferred their company to the WCTU, the Stewardship Committee, and the World Council of Churches rolled into one. Where John baptized, Jesus healed.

Finally John decided to settle the thing once and for all and sent a couple of his disciples to put it to Jesus straight. "John wants to know if you're the One we've been waiting for or whether we should cool our heels a while longer;' they said (Luke 7:20), and Jesus said, "You go tell John what you've seen around here. Tell him there are people who have sold their seeing-eye dogs and taken up bird-watching. Tell him there are people who've traded in aluminum walkers for hiking boots. Tell him the down-and-out have turned into the up-and-coming and a lot of deadbeats are living it up for the first time in their lives. And three cheers for the one who can swallow all this without gagging" (Luke 7:22-23). When they asked Jesus what he thought about John, he said, "They don't come any better, but when the Big Party Up There really gets off the ground, even John will look like small potatoes by comparison" (Luke 7:28).

Nobody knows how John reacted when his disciples came back with Jesus' message, but maybe he remembered how he had felt that day when he'd first seen him heading toward him through the tall grass along the riverbank and how his heart had skipped a beat when he heard himself say, "Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world" (John 1:29), and maybe after he remembered all that and put it together with what they'd told him about the deadbeats and the aluminum walkers, he decided he must have been right the first time.

[19] And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" [20] He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." [21] And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" And he answered, "No." [22] They said to him then, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" [23] He said, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said."

[24] Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. [25] They asked him, "Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" [26] John answered, "I baptize with water; but among you stands One whom you do not know, [27] even He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." [28] This took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Commentary:

19-34. This passage forms a unity, beginning and ending with reference to the Baptist's "testimony": it thereby emphasizes the mission given him by God to bear witness, by his life and preaching, to Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. The Precursor exhorts people to do penance and he practices the austerity he preaches; he points Jesus out as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; and he proclaims him boldly in the face of the Jewish authorities. He is an example to us of the fortitude with which we should confess Christ: "All Christians by the example of their lives and the witness of the word, wherever they live, have an obligation to manifest the new man which the put on in Baptism".

19-24. In this setting of intense expectation of the imminent coming of the Messiah, the Baptist is a personality with enormous prestige, as is shown by the fact that the Jewish authorities send qualified people (priests and Levites from Jerusalem) to ask him if he is the Messiah.

John's great humility should be noted: he is quick to tell his questioners: "I am not the Christ". He sees himself as someone insignificant compared with our Lord: "I am not worthy to untie the thong of His sandal" (verse 27). He places all his prestige at the service of his mission as precursor of the Messiah and, leaving himself completely to one side, he asserts that "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).

25-26. "Baptize": this originally meant to submerge in water, to bathe. For the Jews the rite of immersion meant legal purification of those who had contracted some impurity under the Law. Baptism was also used as a rite for the incorporation of Gentile proselytes into the Jewish people. In the Dead Sea Scrolls there is mention of a baptism as a rite of initiation and purification into the Jewish Qumran community, which existed in our Lord's time.

John's baptism laid marked stress on interior conversion. His words of exhortation and the person's humble recognition of his sins prepared people to receive Christ's grace: it was a very efficacious rite of penance, preparing the people for the coming of the Messiah, and it fulfilled the prophecies that spoke precisely of a cleansing by water prior to the coming of the Kingdom of God in the messianic times (cf. Zechariah 13:1; Ezekiel 36:25; 37-23; Jeremiah 4:14). John's baptism, however, had no power to cleanse the soul of sins, as Christian Baptism does (cf. Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:4).

"One whom you do not know": Jesus had not yet publicly revealed Himself as Messiah and Son of God; although some people did know as a man, St. John the Baptist could assert that really they did not know Him.

27. The Baptist declares Christ's importance by comparing himself to a slave undoing the laces of his master's sandals. If we want to approach Christ, whom St. John heralds, we need to imitate the Baptist. As St. Augustine says: "He who imitates the humility of the Precursor will understand these words. [...] John's greatest merit, my brethren, is this act of humility" ("In Ioann. Evang.", 4, 7).

28. This is a reference to the town of Bethany which was situated on the eastern bank of the Jordan, across from Jericho - different from the Bethany where Lazarus and his family lived, near Jerusalem (cf. John 11:18).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

From a homily by Saint Bede the Venerable, priest

As forerunner of our Lord's birth, preaching and death, the blessed John showed in his struggle a goodness worthy of the sight of heaven. In the words of Scripture: Though in the sight of men he suffered torments, his hope is full of immortality. We justly commemorate the day of his birth with a joyful celebration, a day which he himself made festive for us through his suffering and which he adorned with the crimson splendor of his own blood. We do rightly revere his memory with joyful hearts, for he stamped with the seal of martyrdom the testimony which he delivered on behalf of our Lord.

There is no doubt that blessed John suffered imprisonment and chains as a witness to our Redeemer, whose forerunner he was, and gave his life for him. His persecutor had demanded not that he should deny Christ, but only that he should keep silent about the truth. Nevertheless, he died for Christ. Does Christ not say: I am the truth? Therefore, because John shed his blood for the truth, he surely died for Christ.

Through his birth, preaching and baptizing, he bore witness to the coming birth, preaching and baptism of Christ, and by his own suffering he showed that Christ also would suffer.

Such was the quality and strength of the man who accepted the end of this present life by shedding his blood after the long imprisonment. He preached the freedom of heavenly peace, yet was thrown into irons by ungodly men; he was locked away in the darkness of prison, though he came bearing witness to the Light of life and deserved to be called a bright and shining lamp by that Light itself, which is Christ. John was baptized in his own blood, though he had been privileged to baptize the Redeemer of the world, to hear the voice of the Father above him, and to see the grace of the Holy Spirit descending upon him. But to endure temporal agonies for the sake of the truth was not a heavy burden for such men as John; rather it was easily borne and even desirable, for he knew eternal joy would be his reward.

Doctor Tells You How to Beat the Odds

If you're one of the millions of people who have made a promise to improve yourself this New Year, there's bad news: You're 92 percent likely to fail in sticking to your resolutions, says a recent study from the University of Scranton's Journal of Clinical Psychology.

About 45 percent of Americans make resolutions. Ranking at the top is losing weight, and staying fit and healthy ranks No. 5.

"Of course, those statistics represent the average – you don't have to be average!" says Dr. Virender Sodhi, founder of the Ayurvedic and Naturopathic Medical Clinic, which provides complementary and alternative medicine.

"There are plenty of things individuals can do to improve their odds of success if they resolve to become healthier and fitter."

Dr. Sodhi, author of the new guide, "Ayurvedic Herbs: The Comprehensive Resource for Ayurvedic Healing Solutions," believes we can move much closer to a world of disease-free societies by following the laws of Mother Nature. Individual commitment to health via New Year's resolutions is one path to take us there. Dr. Sodhi offers five tips for staying true to your goals.

• Get away from the instant-gratification mentality and avoid unrealistic goals.

Don't expect to go from zero to 60 – 60 being your ideal body image – in just a few months, especially if you have little background in training. Unfortunately, most who have resolutions like losing plenty of weight and quitting smoking are used to easy snack foods and quick rewards. Health is a long-term labor of love; commit to the love and wait for results.

• Establish good habits!

People make resolutions because they know they're important, but they're hard. With each passing week, more people drop their promises for self-improvement. You'll want to set the right goals; if you want to lose 100 pounds, focus on the first 10, and then the next. Make sure to establish new and good habits – it takes about 28 days to stick. Once you train your mind with good habits, achieving your goals becomes much easier.

• What you should expect from your "labor of love."

Frequency, intensity and time – these are the three investments you'll need for losing weight or gaining muscle. As a general rule, exercise at least 30 minutes three to four times a week. Make sure to start with the appropriate intensity for your health; too little intensity and you'll see little if any results, but too much and you'll be prone to quit. Don't think that it's always better to exercise for a longer duration. What matters is quality. Increase time and intensity once you comfortably meet goals.

• Solidify the gains with persistent positive reinforcement.

Learn to reward yourself in a new way by paying attention to the gains in your body. Notice the improvement in stress levels, breathing, energy, sex life, mood and overall strength. While these improvements are wide-ranging and palpable, they increase over time and can be subtle. Don't let these improvements occur without a personal recognition of your accomplishments.

• Embrace supplemental support.

Of course, all health efforts are connected to your overall well-being. When you make the investment to eat more vegetables, you're reinforcing your commitment to exercise. Consider practices such as yoga and meditation, which will feed your health kick and provide unexpected benefits. Additionally, supplements such as kelp, green tea extract, Commiphora mukul (Guggul) and Bauhinia variegata (Kachnar) can yield even more health benefits. And, spices such as garlic, onion, black pepper, ginger, cinnamon, long pepper, and cayenne pepper all have important thermogenic properties, which stimulates metabolism.

About Virender Sodhi, M.D., N.D.

by Napoleon Hill

[Editor's Note:

As we go into press, I came across the following research reported by CNN titled, 'Wealthiest Americans say the poor have it easy.'

A survey by the Pew Research Center found that 54% of those with the greatest financial security believe that "poor people today have it easy because they can get government benefits without doing anything in return.

Only 36% of the wealthiest say "poor people have hard lives because government benefits don't go far enough to help them live decently."

Those struggling the most financially believe that the poor need more help by more than a two-to-one margin.

This article by legendary Napoleon Hill tells us how to work out of poverty rather than depending on handouts. As Christians, we should be compassionate and help the poor. But the method used to do so is open to question. We may be better off 'teaching people how to fish' rather than 'giving them fish' to eat.]

When I was a small boy I heard a very dramatic speech on the subject of poverty which made a lasting impression upon my mind, and I am sure that speech was responsible for my determination to master poverty despite the fact that I had been born in poverty and had never known anything except poverty. The speech came from my stepmother shortly after she came to our home and took over one of the most forlorn, poverty-stricken places I have ever known.

The speech was as follows:

"This place which we call home is a disgrace to all of us and a handicap for our children. We are all able-bodied people and there is no need for us to accept poverty when we know that it is the result of nothing but laziness or indifference.

"If we stay here and accept the conditions under which we now live, our children will grow up and accept these conditions also. I do not like poverty; I have never accepted poverty as my lot, and I shall not accept it now!

"For the moment I do not know what our first step will be in our break for freedom from poverty, but this much I do know -- we shall make that break successfully, no matter how long it may take or how many sacrifices we may have to make. I intend that our children shall have the advantage of good educations, but more than this, I intend that they shall be inspired with the ambition to master poverty.

"Poverty is a disease which, once it is accepted, becomes a fixation which is hard to shake off.

"It is no disgrace to be born in poverty but it most decidedly is a disgrace to accept this birthright as irrevocable.

"We live in the richest and the greatest country civilization has yet produced. Here opportunity beckons to everyone who has the ambition to recognize and embrace it, and as far as this family is concerned, if opportunity does not beckon to us, we shall create our own opportunity to escape this sort of life.

"Poverty is like creeping paralysis! Slowly it destroys the desire for freedom, strips one of the ambition to enjoy better things of life, and undermines personal initiative. Also, it conditions one's mind for the acceptance of myriad fears, including the fear of ill health, the fear of criticism and the fear of physical pain.

"Our children are too young to know the dangers of accepting poverty as their lot, but I shall see to it that they are made conscious of these dangers, and I shall see to it also that they become prosperity conscious, that they expect prosperity and become willing to pay the price of prosperity."

I have quoted this speech from memory, but it is substantially what my stepmother said to my father in my presence shortly after they were married. That "first step" in the break from poverty, which she mentioned in her speech, came when my stepmother inspired my father to enter Louisville Dental College and become a dentist, and paid for his training with the life insurance money she received from the death of her first husband.

With the income from that investment in my father, she sent her three children and my younger brother through college and started each of them on the road to mastery of poverty.

As for myself, she was instrumental in placing me in a position where the late Andrew Carnegie gave me an opportunity such as no other author ever received--an opportunity which permitted me to learn from more than five hundred of the top-ranking, successful men who collaborated with me in giving the world a practical philosophy of personal achievement. A philosophy based on the "know-how" of my collaborators, gained from their lifetime experiences.