VATICAN - AVE MARIA - The Baptist and the Beatitudes, Rev. Luciano Alimandi

Wednesday, 27 June 2007

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The vocation of Saint John the Baptist, whom the Church safeguards as one of her greatest treasures, encourages each of us to let ourselves be guided by the Spirit of God has John humbly allowed himself to he guided, he who already in his mother's womb, savoured His presence and action. The visit which the Mother of Jesus made to Elisabeth awoke in the soul of John the Baptist wonder for Christ, causing him to leap for joy in his mother's womb. So from the beginning, his mission was marked by this inseparable bond with the Saviour, for whom, he, John, was to prepare the way so that the people of Israel would be ready to welcome salvation. The greatness of the Baptist lies precisely in this: forgetting himself and allowing Jesus to grow in him!
Like the Virgin Mary, John too sang the magnificat of the humble servants of the Lord who are chosen because they are little and they are always only servants of the Word. Saint Augustine uses wonderful words to describe the vocation of the Baptist, underlining that he was content to be merely a “voice” not the “word”, because “the Word” is Jesus and John gave all the space to the Lord. Truly beautiful is Augustine's manner of describing the birth of John the Baptist: “the voice is born”! “If John had announced himself the mouth of Zaccariah would not have opened. His tongue was loosened because the voice was born. In fact John who announced the Lord was asked: ‘who are you?’ (Jn 1, 19). He replied: ‘I am the voice of one crying in the desert' (Jn 1, 23). Voice in John, whereas of the Lord it is said: ‘In the beginning there was the Word’ (Jn 1, 1). John was the voice for a short period of time; Christ is from the beginning the eternal Word” (St. Augustine).
The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI in this same spirit, speaking of the solemnity of the birth of the Baptist said that his life “is entirely oriented towards Christ, like that of His Mother Mary. John the Baptist was the precursor, the ‘voice’ sent to announce the incarnate Word. Hence, to commemorate his birth means in fact to celebrate Christ, the fulfilment of the promises of all the prophets of whom the Baptist was the greatest, called to a ‘prepare the way' for the Messiah (cfr Mt 11,9-10)” (Benedict XVI, Angelus 24 June 2007).
The authentic identity of the witness of Christ in every time and every place is precisely this: to be a “voice” not the “leading personage” of the Christian announcement. At the school of humility John formed his disciples and Christ definitely approved this school taking some of them as his apostles. John the Baptist continues to be a unique example for all educators. At the right moment he let the fruits of his work be gathered by the Lord; in fact the harvest must be left to the Master. Humility is fundamental in every spiritual journey for each to stay in his place in the most authentic and beautiful attitude of all: poverty in spirit.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”! This is the blessedness of John, not by chance the first, the entrance gate for all other forms of blessedness. Unless we pass through this door we will never find the way to the beatitudes. The Baptist from start to finish was poor in himself and rich in Him because the Beatitudes were his life. (Agenzia Fides 27/6/2007 righe 38, parole 573)


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