24 June 2024 -Solennity of Saint John the Baptist
Is 49, 1-6; Acts 13, 22-26; Luke 1, 57---80
Homily
Traditional iconography often shows us a stern, shaggy John the Baptist with a rather off-putting appearance. Such a presentation can obviously be inspired by a few passages in the Gospels reminding us of his preaching and his calls to conversion and penance. And yet, the theme that recurs again and again in the accounts of his birth is that of joy.
When the angel Gabriel announced to Zacharias that he would have a son, he predicted that "many will rejoice at his birth". When Mary, who had just conceived a son, went to visit her elderly cousin Elizabeth, who had herself been pregnant for six months, not only was Elizabeth herself filled with joy, but the child she was carrying leapt for joy in her womb. And when Elizabeth gave birth to her son, all her family and neighbours rejoiced with her.
So John the Baptist is rightly the only saint, apart from Christ and his Mother, whose birth is celebrated liturgically. All the others are celebrated as entering heavenly glory at the moment of their death.
All the texts surrounding the birth of John the Baptist speak to us of the joy of those affected by this birth. And John the Baptist himself appears to us as a deeply happy man, with a peaceful joy, because he is a unified man, entirely devoted to his mission. A totally free man.
Because he was free, because he had nothing to prove and nothing to preserve, he could speak without fear to his contemporaries, whether they were soldiers or ordinary people, princes or kings. He can also step aside before the one whose coming he has announced, and even send him his disciples.
We all know from experience that when we are sad or unhappy, it is when we have lost someone or something dear to us, or when we are unable to fulfil some of our desires or ambitions. We don't have all the successes we'd like to have; we have failures we could do without. We are not appreciated as we think we should be; our cherished ideas or drafts may be resisted by others. We feel tension between the person we would like to be and the tasks or responsibilities entrusted to us. We are sad, or at least not perfectly happy, because our hearts are divided.
John the Baptist has none of these divisions. His mission was to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. He identifies fully with this mission. He aspires to nothing else. He is therefore a totally free man because he is totally unified. And because he is free, his vision of people and things is never distorted. When the Messiah appears, he recognises him immediately. And he knows that his mission is over. He can disappear. "It is time for him to increase and for me to decrease". What surprising words, in a world where, then as now, everyone wants to grow in importance, position, recognition by others, etc.!
We also know to what extent a master who has disciples who are faithful and devoted to him can become attached to these disciples, who easily become like a possession for him. John the Baptist, on the other hand, sent his disciples to Jesus. "Behold the Lamb of God," he said. His role with them was over.
Since he had nothing to lose, being attached to nothing, he could also speak freely. So he can tell the monarch that he is not allowed to take his brother's wife. It doesn't matter if this lands him in prison and, eventually, in death.
And then, in his prison, he begins to have doubts. Was he mistaken? The one he recognised as the Messiah is really not acting like the Messiah he was expected to be. Is it really him? John was then free enough to assume his doubts without being destabilised by them, and he sent his disciples to ask Jesus: "Are you really the one we have been waiting for?” And we know Jesus' answer.
On this solemnity of John the Baptist, let us also ask for the grace of great humility, of a detachment, of an inner freedom that opens us to true joy - that joy that can remain intact in the depths of our hearts despite all the trials and difficulties of life - despite the rough waters on the surface of our existence. Let us ask for this unchanging joy for each of us.
Armand Veilleux