John’s mission is characterized above all by being the Precursor, the one who announces another: he came as a witness, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but the one who was to testify to the light. This is how that disciple, who came to know Jesus thanks to the preparation and the express guidance he received from the Baptist, records it at the beginning of his Gospel: The next day John was there again with two disciples, and looking at Jesus as He walked by, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God." The two disciples, hearing him say this, followed Jesus. What a great memory and what immense gratitude Saint John the Apostle must have felt when, near the end of his life, he recalled in his Gospel that time spent alongside the Baptist, who was an instrument of the Holy Spirit for him to meet Jesus, his treasure and his life!
The Precursor’s preaching was in perfect harmony with his austere and mortified life: Repent, he cried out tirelessly, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Such words, accompanied by his exemplary life, made a great impression on the entire region, and he was soon surrounded by a large group of disciples ready to listen to his teachings. A powerful religious movement shook all of Palestine. The people, just like now, were thirsty for God, and the hope for the Messiah was very vivid. Saint Matthew and Saint Mark report that they came from everywhere: from Jerusalem and from all the other towns of Judea; people also arrived from Galilee, since Jesus found His first disciples there, who were Galileans. Before the envoys of the Sanhedrin, John makes himself known with the words of Isaiah: I am the voice that cries out.
With his life and his words, John bore witness to the truth; without cowardice before those who held power, unmoved by the praise of the crowds, and without yielding to the continuous pressure of the Pharisees. He gave his life defending the law of God against all human convenience: It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife, he reproached Herod.
John’s strength was small to oppose the delusions of the tetrarch, and the reach of his voice was limited to prepare a well-disposed people for the Messiah. But the word of God gained strength on his lips. In the Second Reading of the Mass, the liturgy applies the words of the Prophet to the Baptist: He made my mouth a sharp sword, He hid me in the shadow of His hand, He made me a polished arrow, He kept me in His quiver. And while Isaiah thinks: in vain have I labored, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity, the Lord tells him: I make you a light to the nations, so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
The Lord wants us to manifest Him in our conduct and in our words wherever our daily work, family, and friendships unfold... in commerce, at the University, in the laboratory... even if it seems that this apostolate does not have a wide reach. It is the very mission of John that the Lord entrusts to us now, in our day: to prepare the ways, to be His heralds, the ones who announce Him to other hearts. Consistency between doctrine and conduct is the best proof of the conviction and validity of what we proclaim; on many occasions, it is the essential condition for speaking to people about God.
HCD