Dear Fathers, Friends in Christ,
Isaiah 49:1-6
Psalm 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15
Acts 13:22-26
Luke 1:57-66, 80
"John is his name."
He came unexpectedly, from a mother and a father who were long past their prime, who expected no children. So much so that the father was struck silent by disbelief. This was his birth.
Later in life he would come from the womb of the desert. A madman, some would say. A holy man, others would contend. But whatever he was, prophet or maniac, the people would come to see him and in seeing him they would catch a glimpse of God.
But, being a good man, a holy man, a prophet, he would remind them that he was only here as a sign of something larger and greater than himself, someone who would come after him and who would save him and rescue him as He would save and rescue the entire world.
John came to announce Jesus, and his own end in opposing the worldly and the evil would give us a sign of the end that Jesus would come to at the hands of those around Him. John was the sign that foretold and announced Jesus to the world. John teaches us still to look to no one lesser than Jesus, because everyone else is merely human, but Jesus is both human and divine--He is the savior of the world.
Father Ed Bakker
Anglican Catholic Church / Original Province
Mission of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne
Bendigo
Australia
