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138.1
First Point
Saint
John enjoys this special privilege, that his birthday is honored in the
Church, as is that of Jesus Christ. Saint Bernard says that the reason for
this is that he was holy from his birth, since he was sanctified in his
mother's womb by Jesus Christ himself when the Most Blessed Virgin went to
visit Saint Elizabeth.[i]
Because he was closely united to Jesus Christ, having been
chosen by the eternal Father to be his Precursor,[ii]
it was most fitting that he should be raised to a level of grace above
that granted to other people, and that his holiness should be manifest at
his very birth. This is why Jesus Christ said that among all people
there was none greater than John the Baptist.[iii]
With the Church let us honor the birth of Saint John as the
beginning of his sanctity and the sanctification of so many others.
Since we were not born saints, let us pray that the second birth,
which we received when we withdrew from the world may be for us the
beginning of our sanctification. To borrow the words of Saint Leo, let us
pray that we not fall back into the degradation of our first birth by
conduct inconsistent with the state we have embraced.
138.2 Second Point
Saint
John was holy also by the life he led. When he could barely walk he went
into the desert,[iv]
to live there separated from all contact with others. Although his father
and mother were so holy and separated from the world, their piety did not
seem to him an adequate model of what God asked of him. He needed to go
out and discover from God himself in seclusion and through the practice of
prayer what manner of life should be his. He needed to practice altogether
extraordinary austerities, living only on locusts and wild honey,[v]
in order to attain the sanctity God asked of him. In this way he prepared
himself to preach penance.[vi]
The infallible way to preach penance successfully is to practice it.
The Church in his Office gives us another reason for the seclusion
and mortification of this Saint; namely, the fear of staining his soul
with the slightest sin. Those are also the two reasons that should engage
you to live apart from the world and maintain a wise and regulated
conduct.
138.3 Third Point
Living
a penitential life in the desert until he was thirty years old, Saint John
prepared himself to preach in a holy manner. Then, says the Gospel, the
Lord put his words into John's mouth, and at once he went out to all the
country around the Jordan preaching penance for the remission of sins.[vii]
All the people came to him, even publicans and soldiers, and he told all
of them what they needed to do in order to be saved.[viii]
A great number of those who went to him followed his advice and were
converted to God. It was the example of his secluded and austere life that
enabled him to win people's hearts easily and to convince them to do
penance for their sins.
By your vocation you are obliged to announce the truths of the
Gospel every day. Practice those that are required of all Christians
before you undertake to teach them to others. Though you do not have the
grace of being the Precursor of Jesus Christ like Saint John, you do
possess the grace of being a successor in his ministry. Be assured,
however, that you will make this effective for others only insofar as it
has produced its effect in you. See that it does, and without delay.
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