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| 'His name is John'. Cistercian Breviary |
Homily - Abbot Mark.
Birth of John the Baptist,. (24 August,2012)
Homily 11.00 am
John the Baptist is the only person outside the Holy Family to have two days set aside for him in the Church’s universal calendar. He is obviously an important person in the life of the Church. John links the two Testaments. He is born in the Old to prepare the way for the New. In later life John comes over in the gospels as rather a fierce character. Films, plays, and even opera have portrayed him as a wild man, even a fanatic. It makes for good theatre.
There are people who preach religion but for all their fine words reveal only themselves. There are others who never get in the way of their message but point beyond themselves. John was caught up by his love for God and the desire he had to bring the hearts of people back to God. However blunt his words, he did not claim anything for himself. John was humble. When he recognised Jesus, John knew his work was nearly over. “He must grow greater”, he said and, “I must grow less.” John knew when to let go.
As an only child born to elderly parents who had long ago given up hope of having a family, John the Baptist must have been a much-loved child. At the same time it is very likely that he was a spoiled one as well. . Elizabeth and Zechariah knew that their son was even more special than other children. The meaning of his name is “God’s gracious gift”. The name, John, broke with the tradition of his family and yet both father and mother had independently picked it. They were of course inspired by the Holy Spirit
The people throughout the area were speaking about the unusual circumstances of his birth. He was quite a little celebrity. And it was the same when he began his ministry. Crowds flocked to him and, for a while, he was again a celebrity. This time the whole of Jerusalem were talking about him. Some were saying openly that he was the Messiah. Talk like this could go easily to a man’s head.
And yet, somehow John was aware, deep within himself, that he was not the one the people thought he was. He knew that there was one coming after him who was more important than he was and that his job was to step aside and make way for him...This labour without reward or recognition must have been hard at times. As he lay in prison hearing about the crowds now following Jesus, he must have wondered if he had toiled in vain and had exhausted himself for nothing. Surely there must have been times in that prison when he hankered again for his younger days when people were over-awed by him and he was both popular and successful.
John’s experience is a kind of model for all those whose best days are behind them. Men and women who were once well-known and had succeeded in their lives, inevitably have to give way to others younger than themselves.
We should remember such people as they try to cope with the changed circumstances in their lives. They are not now useless, simply that their circumstances have changed. They do need to adapt to a changed reality where their usefulness is not ended but different. They can always do something else. And, if that becomes too difficult, they can certainly be themselves.
John himself remains a model for us in that he shows that we can and should step aside so that Christ is the one who stands first in our lives. We find Christ when the time comes for us to step back and let the other people in our lives and our work move into a more central role.
John let go when the time came, and - with his help - so can we!
