From the Cardinal: John the Baptist prepares us for the Lord’s coming| December 6, 2024
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Vol. 6. No. 7
Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (Mt 11:11).
My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
In his message for the Second Sunday of Advent two years ago (see below), Pope Francis called our attention to the powerful figure of Saint John the Baptist. Our Church rightly considers John to be the last in a long line of Old Testament prophets. He stands out as a herald and precursor of the long-awaited Messiah, the One that God promised would save us from our bondage to sin and death.
John the Baptist stands out prominently until the moment when Jesus appears. Then he rightly proclaims that he, John, must diminish even as Jesus, his younger cousin, increases. As we read in Saint Luke’s Gospel (3:15–17):
Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah.
John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
The baptism of John is a symbol of the much more powerful sacrament that Jesus institutes, a baptism of unquenchable fire and the Holy Spirit. John preached a baptism of repentance. Jesus accepts what John has to offer and agrees to be baptized by him (Lk 3:21–22) in spite of the fact that he himself was sinless.
In his Advent message, Pope Francis reflects on the “stern figure” that John portrays in the Gospel. The image of a wild man living in the desert and subsisting on a diet of locusts and honey probably doesn’t appeal to most of us who are used to gentler, softer lifestyles. The Holy Father points out that John’s more strident approach was necessary to expose the hypocrisy and self-indulgent behavior of the political and religious leaders of his day. John, after all, had the courage to “speak truth to power” when he confronted King Herod. The prophet who said, “I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals,” was a humble man who did not pretend to be anything more than who he was.
As Pope Francis says:
John preached the nearness of the Kingdom. In short, he was an austere and radical man, who at first sight might appear somewhat harsh and could instill a certain fear. But then again, we can ask ourselves why does the Church propose him each year as our primary traveling companion during this Season of Advent? What is hidden behind his severity, behind his apparent harshness? What is John’s secret? What is the message the Church gives us today with John?
In reality, the Baptist, more than being a harsh man, was a man who was allergic to duplicity. Listen well to this: allergic to duplicity.
The pope suggests that to be “allergic to duplicity” is to be well-disposed or fully prepared to encounter Jesus. This is what Advent is all about: repentance, conversion, and openness to the Lord’s coming again.
John the Baptist is “our primary traveling companion” during this time of waiting in hope. With him, we are also accompanied by Mary, the mother of Jesus and our mother. Mary points the way to her Son. She leads us, walks with us, and waits for us from her humble, yet exalted, position as Queen of the Universe and Mother of the Church.
This year on December 9, we will celebrate the transferred Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Mary is our model of holiness, “our life, our sweetness and our hope.” Like Saint John the Baptist, Mary prepares us to come closer to Jesus and to ready ourselves for intimacy with His Sacred Heart.
May this holy season of Advent be a time of grace for us—individuals, families, and communities. And may we grow in holiness by being “allergic to duplicity” and, therefore, totally honest with ourselves and others about who we are as daughters and sons of the same Father.
A blessed Advent to all!
Sincerely yours in Christ the Redeemer,
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R.
Archbishop of Newark
USCCB 2024 Advent Calendar
A Message from Pope Francis: Words of Challenge and Hope
(A selection from the Angelus Message given in St. Peter’s Square on the Second Sunday of Advent, December 4, 2022)
Dear brothers and sisters, Buongiorno! Happy Sunday!
Today, the Second Sunday of Advent, the Gospel for the Liturgy presents the figure of John the Baptist. The text says that John “wore a garment of camel’s hair,” that “his food was locusts and wild honey” (Mt 3:4), and that he invited everyone to conversion: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (v. 2).
John preached the nearness of the Kingdom. In short, he was an austere and radical man who, at first sight, might appear somewhat harsh and could instill a certain fear. But then again, we can ask ourselves why the Church proposes him each year as our primary traveling companion during this Season of Advent. What is hidden behind his severity, behind his apparent harshness? What is John’s secret? What is the message the Church gives us today with John?
In reality, the Baptist, more than being a harsh man, was a man who was allergic to duplicity. Listen well to this: allergic to duplicity. For example, when the Pharisees and Sadducees, who were known for their hypocrisy, approached him, his “allergic reaction” was very strong! In fact, some of them probably went to him out of curiosity or opportunism because John had become quite popular.
These Pharisees and Sadducees were content with themselves and, faced with the Baptist’s sharp appeal, they justified themselves by saying: “We have Abraham as our father” (v. 9). Thus, due to duplicity and presumption, they did not welcome the moment of grace, the opportunity to begin a new life. They were closed in the presumption of being right. So, John says to them: “Bear fruit that befits repentance!” (v. 8) This is a cry of love, like the cry of a father who sees his son ruining himself and tells him: “Don’t throw your life away”!
In essence, dear brothers and sisters, hypocrisy is the greatest danger because it can ruin even the most sacred realities. Hypocrisy is a serious danger. This is why the Baptist — as Jesus would be later — was harsh with hypocrites. We can read, for example, chapter 23 of Matthew, in which Jesus speaks so strongly to the hypocrites of that time. And why do the Baptist and Jesus do this? To shake them up. Instead, those who felt they were sinners “went out to him [John], and they were baptized by him, confessing their sins” (cf. v. 5). Therefore, prowess is not important to welcome God, but rather humility. This is the path to welcome God. Not prowess: “We are strong, We are great people…!” No. Humility. “I am a sinner”. But not in an abstract way, no — “because of this and this and this”. Each of us has to confess our own sins, our own failings, our own hypocrisy, firstly to ourselves. We have to get off the pedestal and immerse ourselves in the water of repentance.
Dear brothers and sisters, with his “allergic reactions,” John makes us reflect. Are we not, at times, a bit like those Pharisees? Perhaps we look at others from top to bottom, thinking that we are better than them, that we have our lives under control, that we do not need God or the Church, or our brothers or sisters, every day. We forget that it is legitimate to look down on someone else only in one case: when it is necessary to help them get up. This is the only case. The others are not legitimate.
Advent is a time of grace to take off our masks—each one of us has them—and to join those who are humble. It is a time to be liberated from the presumption of self-sufficiency, to confess our sins (especially the hidden ones), and to welcome God’s pardon. It is also a moment to ask forgiveness from those we have offended. This is how to begin a new life. There is only one way, the way of humility — to purify ourselves from the sense of superiority, from formalism and hypocrisy, to see others as our brothers and sisters, sinners like ourselves, and to see Jesus as the Savior who comes for us, not for others, for us, just as we are, with our poverty, misery and failings, above all with our need to be raised up, forgiven and saved.
And let us remember another thing: with Jesus, there is always the possibility of beginning again. It is never too late. There is always the possibility to begin again. Take courage. He is close to us and this is a time of conversion. Each of us can think: “I have this situation inside, this problem that I am ashamed of…”. But Jesus is beside you. Begin again. There is always the possibility of taking a step forward. He is waiting for us and never grows tired of us. He never tires! And we are annoying, but He never grows tired! Let us listen to John the Baptist’s appeal to return to God. And let us not let this Advent go by like days on the calendar because this is a time of grace, a grace for us too, here and now! May Mary, the humble servant of the Lord, help us to meet him, and our brothers and sisters on the way of humility, which is the only one that will help us go ahead.
My Prayer for You
Please join me in this simple Advent prayer:
Heavenly Father, heal our hearts during this season of Advent. Help us to love more fully, forgive more generously, and wait more patiently for our Lord’s coming again, embracing each day and hour knowing the joy that awaits. Help us to repent our sins and be ready when Your Son comes again. In Jesus’ name, we pray: O Lord, Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus! Amen.