Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
St. John the Baptist was the one
foretold by the Prophet Isaiah as the voice crying in the wilderness: Prepare
the way of the Lord. His mission was made clear by the angel who announced his
birth to Zechariah his father: “he will bring many of the children of Israel
back to the Lord their God. He will go before the Lord in the spirit and power
of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to their sons, and to bring back to
the righteous way those who go astray. In this way, he will prepare a people
worthy of the Lord.”
The ministry of St. John the
Baptist is clearly a ministry of reconciliation. He calls for the conversion of
people. He preaches a baptism of repentance. “Repent, for the kingdom of God is
at hand.” In the new evangelization, the Church must take up this task of St.
John the Baptist. Pope Francis wrote: “all of us are
asked to obey his call to go forth from our own comfort zone in order to reach
all the “peripheries” in need of the light of the Gospel.” (Francis, Evangelii
Gaudium, 20.)
The
message that the Church bears is no different from that of St. John the Baptist
– it is always a call, an invitation to all people to go to Jesus. Pope Francis
said: “I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed
personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him
encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should
think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since ‘no one is
excluded from the joy brought by the Lord’. The
Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step
towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with
open arms. Now is the time to say to Jesus: ‘Lord, I have let myself be
deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more,
to renew my covenant with you. I need you. Save me once again, Lord, take me
once more into your redeeming embrace’. How good it feels to come back to him
whenever we are lost! Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving
us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy. Christ, who told us to
forgive one another ‘seventy times seven’ (Mt 18:22) has given us his example:
he has forgiven us seventy times seven. Time and time again he bears us on his
shoulders. No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this
boundless and unfailing love. With a tenderness which never disappoints, but is
always capable of restoring our joy, he makes it possible for us to lift up our
heads and to start anew. Let us not flee from the resurrection of Jesus, let us
never give up, come what will. May nothing inspire more than his life, which
impels us onwards!” (EG, 3.)
The Church
must undergo a conversion which the pope calls as the “missionary conversion.”
The Church must experience “a missionary impulse capable of transforming
everything, so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and
schedules, language and structures can be suitably channeled for the
evangelization of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation.”(EG, 27) We must exert all our efforts to reach
out to those who need to hear the gospel. “Pastoral activity needs to
bring out more clearly the fact that our relationship with the Father demands
and encourages a communion which heals, promotes and reinforces interpersonal
bonds. In our world, especially in some countries, different forms of war and
conflict are re-emerging, yet we Christians remain steadfast in our intention
to respect others, to heal wounds, to build bridges, to strengthen
relationships and to “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal 6:2).” (EG, 67.)
The work
of the Church is the same as John’s. Let us heal wounds, build bridges and strengthen
relationships.
Jesus, I
trust in you. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to
thee.
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