Deacon Larry

 

Nativity of St. John the Baptist

Is 49: 1-6; Acts 13: 22-26; Luke 1: 57-66, 80

Dc. Larry Brockman

A Herald.  That’s what St. John the Baptist was, a herald of things that needed to be heard- God’s herald.  In the prophecy of John given to Isaiah, God said:  “I will make you a light to the nations that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth”.  And again, as Paul says:  “John heralded his coming by proclaiming a Baptism of repentance”.  John the Baptist, inspired by God, fulfilled the Isaiah prophecy by heralding the coming of Jesus.  Ultimately, John paid for it with his life.  But he heard his call and followed it.  Some listened, but many did not.   

Now the idea of a Herald is not a something just of the past.  It is a living phenomena, one that is always present in society.  God used many heralds during the days before the birth of Jesus.  They were the prophets of the Old Testament.  Moses heralded the Exodus and settling of God’s chosen people in the promised land.  Elijah and Elisha, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, all the Old Testament prophets, were heralds of things to come- draughts, wars, times of favor, exiles, the Messiah.  After God rose from the dead and established his Church, the age of prophesy of the coming of the Messiah may have ended.  But the age of heralds of God’s word certainly did not end.

Indeed, we have had God’s heralds amongst us continually over the ages.  Many of the saints were heralds, leaving us a legacy of what they heralded- people like St. Patrick, and St. Francis of Assisi.  Some heralded their inspirations on the nature of God- people like Thomas Aquinas and Augustine; or their warnings on injustices such as discrimination and poverty- people like Martin Luther King and Mother Theresa.  It would be naïve to assume that the age of God’s heralds is over.  And in fact, each generation, each age, experiences problems- problems symptomatic of the secular world that we live in, a world in which Satan works constantly to tear down the emerging kingdom of God by undermining the wonderful works of God. 

And so, God continues to send us heralds like John the Baptist, heralds who will tell the truth,  God’s inspired truth. Just like the people in Israel of the Old Testament; and just like the people in John the Baptist’s time, we are challenged to listen to these heralds of truth.  We are challenged to find God’s truth among the many voices of the secular world.  Who is heralding God’s truth in an age when millions of people are aborted?  Who is heralding God’s truth in an age when runaway spending beyond our means is sanctioned by governments?  Who is heralding God’s truth about rights versus privileges in society?  Who are the modern day heralds- the true messengers of God?

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 24th, 2010 at 7:33 am and is filed under Holy Family Weekday Homilies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.