Feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist

Sunday June 24, 2007

We don’t need any more ‘bully pulpits’ or ‘bully prophets’ in church, at home or in the town square.

It seems a strange time to be celebrating the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist at the conclusion of the Easter season with its corollary feasts of the Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi. Officially we returned last Sunday to ‘ordinary time’ that will continue until next fall with its thematic sequence of readings. It will conclude with the celebration of Christ the King followed by Advent and the opening of a new liturgical year.

On the other hand what better time of the year than during the week in which the summer solstice occurs to celebrate the life of the last prophet to point to Jesus? In the northern hemisphere the days have already begun to shorten—imperceptibly at first but over time they will shorten exponentially until the winter solstice just before the celebration of the birth of Christ when the daylight hours will increase once again—imperceptibly at first and then exponentially until summer.

Although I have never read anywhere that this cosmology of our northern hemisphere was influential on the arrangement of this feast, I think there is more than a theological appropriateness to the insertion of this feast of St. John into the liturgical calendar just after the summer solstice as there an appropriateness to the celebration of Christmas just after the winter solstice.

He was not the light but a witness to the light that was coming into the world. “I must decrease,” he said, and “he must increase.”

Born out of time through an extraordinary birth—viewed in faith as a divine intervention—John was a contemporary of Jesus who was also born out of time through an extraordinary intervention of God. Undoubtedly it was Luke’s intent to introduce John and Jesus with a similar narrative sequence in order to make it clear that John had a specific role to play in the unveiling of God’s plan of salvation in Christ.

Today’s gospel opens with the words, “When the time arrived….” Luke uses this phase intentionally in his writings in order to us a ‘heads up’ on a significant event about to take place. For Luke time was not chronological but opportune. He introduces the Last Supper narrative with the words, “When the hour came…” Despite her age, it was ‘time’ for Elizabeth to give birth to her child.

People wondered whether John might be the Messiah foretold by the ancient prophets. But in John’s mind and in the mind of God, he was not the Messiah.

Luke uses the same literary genre in the announcement of Jesus birth and in the introduction of his mission and ministry. “Who is this who speaks with such authority? Is he not the son of Mary and the carpenter? Where did he get all this stuff?
This was the testimony of John to those who were sent to ask him, “Who are you?’ He admitted and did not deny it, ‘I am not the Messiah.’ So they asked him, ‘what are you then? Are you Elijah?’ And he said, ‘I am not.’ Are you the Prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ So they said to him, ‘who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?’ He said: ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the desert. Make straight the way of the Lord.’” John 1:20-23]

Mark put it this way: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs on his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” [Mark 1:7-8]

His mission was clear but his ministry was brief. “A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and he world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor b human choice nor by human decision but of God.” [John 1:6-12]

‘This was he of whom I said, ‘there is one who is coming after me, who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me. From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” John 1:15-16]

I don’t’ know very many people who welcome prophets unless the prophets speak their language, i.e., their religious agenda or their political platform whichever the case may be. It’s amazing to me how folks on the right and the left quote from prophets that please them.

Protagonists on the left quote papal pronouncements and encyclicals against war and the uncontrolled social order. Antagonists on the right quote from papal writings and statements that favor their conservative mission to preserve what they sincerely believe to be the core tradition rooted in the orthodox teachings of the Church. This is why I have become a ‘radical centrist!’ Put the gavel down and show me the data!

Jesus said this about John: “Amen I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the dominion of heaven is greater than he.” [Matt 11:11]

Wow! What is Jesus suggesting in this brief statement? That we are greater than John the Baptist? No way! On the other hand, I suppose it is indeed true because we have been the beneficiaries of Jesus’ promises and teachings that are indeed the fulfillment of all the prophets.

But we need to distinguish between the true prophets and the ‘bully prophets’ and they exist on both sides of the aisle. John was a strong prophet but not a bully. We have more than enough of bullies of every kind and rank on and off the screen, in and out of the pulpit, at kitchen tables and on street corners. Authentic prophets do not tell people what to think and how to think but they do get us to think, for God’s sake. As mature Catholics, we are not expected to leave our intelligence at the door of the church!

Authentic prophets challenge but do not hassle us. They base their message on data rather than power. They do not incite people to violence for any purpose even to overcome violence. They have staying power and never abandon the people to whom they are sent.

Although I did not mention them in my pulpit homily this morning, it occurred to me on the way home from church that Mayor Bloomberg is a good example of a political prophet and Edwina Gately is a fine example of a church prophet. You don’t have to agree with everything they say or do but they do get our attention and get us to think about the issues that affect our life and wellbeing in the world and in the Church.

I think all of us have a prophetic role to play in a divided world in which might makes right and raw power, political, religious, economic and otherwise, spell success. That’s not the kind of dominion Jesus came to establish. Actually, he didn’t come to establish any earthy kingdom or dominion but a ‘kindom’ of people who lived by the ancient law that is still in the Torah—love of God and neighbor—one inclusive of the other. If we did that, it would be more than sufficient prophecy for our age and for ages to come.

Recent Articles

Sixth Sunday of Easter 'C'

In all things, charity It continues to astound me how the Scriptures come to life over and over again under different…continue reading...

Sixth Sunday of Easter 'C'

In all things, charity It continues to astound me how the Scriptures come to life over and over again under different…continue reading...

Fifth Sunday of Easter 'B'

Let’s stay connected. It’s not unusual to hear family members or close friends at the departure gates of life say to…continue reading...

Fourth Sunday of Easter 'B'

Watch out for the leopards! When my sister and I were kids, my father would whistle for us when it was…continue reading...

Third Sunday of Easter 'B'

Suddenly our eyes were opened… in the Breaking of the Bread. It’s interesting how some life incidents and experiences can be…continue reading...