The preaching of John the Baptist

Today is supposedly the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Patroness of the Philippines. But I learned that since today is the Second Sunday of Advent, this event takes precedence over the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which has been moved tomorrow Dec. 9th. However since the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is a Holiday of Obligation, if you went to Mass today, you are no longer required to hear Mass tomorrow.

Meanwhile the gospel reading today is about the Preaching of John the Baptist. If you have read the story of John the Baptist, you will know that he too was born through the Holy Spirit because his mother Elizabeth, a cousin of the Blessed Virgin Mary and his father Zechariah, were already in advance in age. Anyway today’s scripture comes from Matt. 3:1-12.

1 In those days John the Baptist appeared preaching in the desert of Judea 2[and] saying “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” 3 It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said, “A voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.’

4 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him 6 and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. 7 When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.

9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

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St. John the Baptist was a cousin of our Lord Jesus Christ who was born six months ahead of him. The mission that God gave to him was to announce the coming of the promised Messiah that the prophets from Moses to Isaiah wrote about. He looked like a hermit and ate locusts and honey. While in Jerusalem during our pilgrimage tour last October, our tour guide showed us a Locust Tree because its fruits looked like locusts. Hence she told us that St. John the Baptist didn’t really eat locusts, but fruits from the Locust Tree.

As we entered Israel from Jordan through the Jordan River through the King Hussein/Allenby Bridge, we learned that this place was very close to the traditional site where John the Baptist baptized our Lord. But since the river has become muddy in that place and since it was at the border of Jordan and Israel when they fought the Six-Day War, the place of Baptism for pilgrims was moved to Yardenit, very much further away.

But the place that John the Baptist preached was truly a desert wasteland even to this day. It makes you wonder why even the Pharisees or Sadducees would go there also to be baptized by John. But John only showed them his humility, even in the midst of  his popularity when he said, “I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals.”

When finally John baptized our Lord in the Jordan River, it was mission accomplished for John and he said, “This is the lamb of God who take away the sins of the world. I must decrease… he must increase.” Indeed, we too much embrace this thought, that when we finally accept our Lord Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Saviour and develop a personal relationship with the Lord we too must decrease so we can let Jesus increase in our life.

This should be our attitude today as we celebrate the Second Sunday of Advent. But allow me to remind you that today is also the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a doctrine of the Catholic Church that truly believes that the Blessed Virgin Mary was born sinless or without the stain of original sin so that when the Holy Spirit overshadowed her and placed the Son of God into her womb, divinity could live within her.

So the challenge to us for this December is for us to reform ourselves and prepare not only for the celebration of Christmas, but for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and we can do this through meditation, prayers, sacrifices, mortification and above all…going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and receiving our Lord Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.

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