May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for
us.
Last week we heard the preaching of John the Baptist. This week we hear about the mission of John
the Baptist.
Today in our reading from the Gospel, John the Baptist
performs the last of his duties as the last of the prophets, except for the
shedding of his blood. He sends his
disciples to the Lord Jesus. The mission
of John the Baptist has always been to send people to the Lord Jesus. In the womb of his mother Elizabeth, John
rejoiced at the greeting of the Blessed Virgin Mary, because he sensed that the
Savior was near. Indeed, it is an unborn
child who is the first to worship Jesus Christ.
John the Baptist is the one who pointed to the Lord Jesus and said
“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” And John the Baptist said of the Lord Jesus
that “he must increase and I must decrease.”
It is for this reason that the Lord Jesus would say that “among those
born of women there has been none greater that John the Baptist.”
John the Baptist points to the Lord Jesus. That is his mission. As he fulfills the mission that was entrusted
to him by the Lord, John fully becomes the one that the Lord has called him to
be. As we follow John the Baptist during
the final weeks of the season of Advent, we too are called to point to the Lord
Jesus. We too are called to rejoice in the
womb of our mother, the Church, because the Savior is near. And we too, dear brothers and sisters, will more
fully become the people we were created to be, as our voices, our hands and our
lives, point to the Lord Jesus. Amen.
Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic
Church, Monroe, NC
