Is 49: 1-6; Acts 13: 22-26; Lk 1: 57-66, 80
From the very origin of man, he has experienced certain unusual natural phenomenon that preceded some remarkable events of
history. William Shakespeare gives a vid description of it in his play “Julius
Caesar.” The night before Julius Caesar was
murdered, three times she called out in her sleep about Caesar’s murder. Many
strange things happened in the city earlier that night: dead men
walked, ghosts wandered the city, a lioness gave birth in the street, and
lightning shattered the skies. She believed that these signs portend true
danger, she said; Caesar could not afford to ignore them. Meanwhile a servant
entered, reporting that
they examined the entrails of an animal brought for sacrifice and were unable to find a heart—a bad sign.
they examined the entrails of an animal brought for sacrifice and were unable to find a heart—a bad sign.
In many folklore, and traditions we can see many such unusual
phenomenon to announce a great event. In 373 B.C., “animals, including rats,
snakes and weasels, deserted the Greek city of Helice just days before a quake devastated the
place.”
A 2003 story in the “China Daily” related some strange
occurrences just prior to a large earthquake that hit Chifeng, a city in
Mongolia. Villagers reported that they saw water spurt more than six feet into
the air from a river bed that had been dry for many years. A villager recalled
that she saw flocks of sparrows and swallows flying haphazardly, unable to
navigate properly as they flew into walls and other obstacles.
There’s another story about legions of toads filling the streets
of Mianzhu, a city where more than 2,000 people were subsequently killed in the
Sichuan quake. There was a story how thousands of cubic meters of water
vanished from a pond.
In 1920, the largest earthquake to
hit China with a magnitude of 8.5 occurred in Haiyuan County, Ninghsia
Province. According to reports of eyewitnesses, prior to this earthquake,
wolves were seen running around in packs, dogs were barking unusually, and
sparrows were flying around wildly. It is reported that prior to the 6.8 magnitude
earthquake in 1966 in Hsingtai County, Hopei Province, in Northern China, all
the dogs at a village near the epicenter had deserted their kennels.
The coming of John the Baptist
was prophesied by Isaiah 700 years before his birth. Isaiah wrote:
The voice of one crying in
the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his path straight.
Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his path straight.
Today, we celebrate
the Solemnity of the birth of John the Baptist. He had a prominent role in the
history of salvation as the forerunner of the Messiah. It was he who prepared
Israel to receive their long awaited Messiah by preaching repentance. The first
reading expresses important aspects of John’s career as a prophet to God’s
people and as a light to the nations who was named and sanctified from his
mother’s womb.
John the Baptist,
in all humility, publicly acknowledged his role as only the Messiah’s herald, to prepare Israel to receive the Messiah by
inviting the people to receive the baptism of repentance.
John lived in the
wilderness of Judea. He was clothed in camel's hair, wore a leather belt, and
ate locusts and wild honey. John boldly preached to working men, religious
leaders, and governing officials, encouraging them to repent.
John had a message for
everyone. It was practicable, but demanding great change. When the tax collectors
asked John what they should do, he instructed them not to collect more than
they had been ordered to.
He told the soldiers not to accuse anyone
falsely, not to take money from anyone by force, and to be content with their
wages.
John’s life and mission
tells us that today, in this century, we
are entrusted with the same mission to be
heralds of Jesus. Just like John pointed out the long awaited savior of the Jews to his contemporaries, today we
have to be the forerunners of Jesus. John’s life and actions strengthened his message. Today our actions must bear witness of our message.
Secondly, John preached boldly. Many found peace in his message; while others lost their peace. When the Pharisees and Sadducees came to hear John, he called them a "brood of vipers," and warned them to repent. Herod Antipas, the governor of Galilee, had taken the wife of his brother Philip. John boldly told Herod that it was unlawful for him to have his brother's wife. This message troubled him, and finally it lead to the imprisonment and execution of John. But John remained firm with his condemnation of the unlawful acts even when he faced death.
Today, John reminds us
to follow his example. To be bold enough to condemns the things that go against
our faith.
As
John was: “The voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of
the Lord” today our
voice must be crying to prepare the way of the Lord.” The world we live in is much
different from tht of John, and it makes our mission more important. At the
time of John there was a longing in the common man, to receive the Saviour; but
today the majority take for granted faith and religion. Materialism has almost
captured the heart of the majority; and might is considered right. We require the boldness of John, the commitment
of John, the humility of John, the vision of John and the holiness of John to
establish our mission.
May
God help us.
Satish