Light from the Altar - Saint John the Baptist, 24 June

"In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, the word of the Lord came to John the son of Zachary in the wilderness." The name of Zachary takes us back a long way - thirty years - to the time when Augustus Caesar was reigning and there was peace upon earth. The scene in the Temple rises to our mind - the hour of incense, the old priest, dumb but rejoicing, coming out from the Holy Place and silently passing by the expecting people. He was to have a son who was to be a joy and a gladness to his parents, whose birth would make many rejoice, who would be filled with the Holy Ghost. Then we remember the gathering at the country house at Ain-Karim, the name of John given to the new-born child, and the burst of praise from Zachary's loosened tongue. Then there comes the summing up of John's childhood: "And the child grew and was strengthened in spirit, and was in the deserts until the day of his manifestation to Israel." These words bring us again to the reign of Tiberius and the desert place. We see John's gaunt figure clothed in a rough camel's hair bound in with a leathern girdle; his stem, austere face tells of spare diet, one "who did not eat bread nor drink wine, but locusts and wild honey." He is spirit rather than flesh, a voice rather than a man.

But he attracts men; sanctity always does sooner or later. He did not seek them in the by-ways or alleys as our Blessed Lord did, but drew them away from human ties, from business into solitude, and there spoke to their hearts. From the great cities went out all classes of men, the common folk, soldiers, publicans, levites, priests. And they listened to his preaching, caught his spirit of generosity, and humbling themselves at the sight of his humility, confessed their sins. "At Ennon, near Salim, there was much water," and Saint John baptized all who asked for baptism. But all did not ask for it. "The Pharisees and lawyers despised the counsel of God" and were not baptized by him. Oh no. How could men wearing broadened fringes - symbols of extraordinary purity - stand as sinners amongst sinners! Some of them came out of curiosity to note the proceedings; others in quest of some device by which the Kingdom of Heaven could be gained and the world not lost. But Saint John had only words of righteous indignation for such as these. "Ye brood of vipers, who hath shown you to flee from the wrath to come?" The anger of the meek is terrible, and John's indignation made even these bold hypocrites turn away ashamed, so that when again they wanted to persecute the Saint they did not come themselves, but sent messengers.. "Art thou he who is to come, or look we for another?" "I am not the Christ," he answered; "there shall come a mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear, the latchet of whose sandal I am not worthy to loosen." This same Mighty One came one day and stood amongst sinners- Then was Saint John's humility put to the test. "I ought to be baptized by Thee, and comest Thou to me?" and he stayed Him. One gentle word from Jesus prevailed, and John with trembling hand poured the water over the bowed head of the Savior of mankind.

Forty days later Jesus came from the desert to the banks of the Jordan. He had fasted, He had been tempted, had been consoled by an angel. And the traces of suffering were imprinted on His face. "Behold the Lamb of God," said John as He approached, "behold Him Who taketh away the sins of the world." The Precursor stood amongst a group of disciples, men with hearts prepared, with eyes ready to behold the Christ. And now they were to be handed over to Him. John's mission changed from this hour. His one thought was to pass on those dearly beloved children to the meek Lamb of God. One day news was brought to John that "all men came to Jesus." Then the joy of his heart burst forth: "The friend of the bridegroom rejoiceth with joy because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy is therefore fulfilled. He must increase but I must decrease." John was surrounded by hundreds of devoted followers, who hung upon his word, imitated his austerities, practised his virtues. They loved him with a pure, unselfish love, and revered him with filial homage. Such love and homage have been a pitfall to many a grand soul, a temptation to most, for ambition or the love of dominion is the snare of great minds. Only the very great escape unharmed. And such was John the Baptist.

"He must increase, I must decrease." Dear, loyal Saint! Was there ever so generous a heart, so lowly a spirit?

We may say that he had to deal with our Lord and that it is easy to be generous with Him. Oh, is it I Why, then, are there so few saints? For sanctity only means generosity towards God. No, the truth is generosity is not easy, and never was. Saint John was generous; we are not. Let us look at him well and see the beauty of his character, and learn from him some of his hardy virtues: mortification of body and soul, prudence in counsel, charity to all men, strength of soul to denounce the wrong, and love to pardon it.

Death soon came to John the Baptist. His work was done. He had trained his disciples well, and they were ripe for a greater Master; it was expedient for them that he should go. What death but martyrdom would suit a life like his? "When our Lord was recording the rewards He would give to those who left all for His sake, He added to the hundred-fold in this life "and persecutions." And these were John's portion. He was hunted down by a profligate woman, imprisoned and put to death. "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife," he said to the licentious Herod, and "I will that thou give me the head of John the Baptist in a dish" was the answer of Herodias' daughter. Herod obeyed her and John was beheaded.

God's ways are strange. Some twenty years of preparation John had made, and only a few months of labor were asked of him. He was endowed with the best gifts of the Holy Ghost and he fell in the prime of life, at the word of a dancing girl. Yet God's Prophet had fulfilled his mission. "It was consummated," as his Master's would be in a few more months. John went before Him in death as he had gone before Him in life - His precursor in life and death.

"What went you out in the desert to see?" our Lord asked. "A prophet? Yea, I say, more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written: Behold I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee. For I say to you that amongst those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist." Our Lord loves praising. He praised Nathaniel's guilelessness, the centurion's faith, the confidence of the Syro-Phoenician woman, the generosity of the widow; and He praised Saint John, His prophet and precursor - "more than prophet, more than angel."

To be praised by our Blessed Lord! Who would not work for such an object? What else is there to work for? His praise cannot be bard to win; we do readily what we like doing, and our Lord likes praising. We will ask Saint John, the humble and loving saint, to teach us how to work for and how to win our Lord's praise. We will ask Him to teach us how to imitate, even if it is afar off, some of those virtues that made him the "gladness of his parents, the joy of his disciples, the angel of the Lord."

- taken from Light from the Altar, edited by Father James J McGovern, 1906