Gospel according to Saint Jhon 1,6-8.19-28:

A man came, sent by God; his name was John. He came to bear witness, as a witness to introduce the Light so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light but a witness to introduce the Light. This was the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites to ask him, «Who are you?». John recognized the truth and did not deny it. He said, «I am not the Messiah». And they asked him, «Then who are you? Elijah?». He answered, «I am not». They said, «Are you the Prophet?». And he answered, «No». Then they said to him, «Tell us who you are, so that we can give some answer to those who sent us. How do you see yourself?». And John said, quoting the prophet Isaiah, «I am the voice crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord».
Those who had been sent were Pharisees; so they put a further question to John: «Then why are you baptizing if you are not the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?». John answered, «I baptize you with water, but among you stands one whom you do not know; although he comes after me, I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal». This happened in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Christ, John the Baptist and The Rat

Luis CASASUS President of the Idente Missionaries

Rome, December 17, 2023 | Third Sunday of Advent

Is 61: 1-2a.10-11; 1Thess 5: 16-24; Jn 1: 6-8.19-28

All of us have some experience of being wrong in judging a person. In Leon Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina, Anna’s lover, the handsome cavalry officer Aleksei Vronsky appears to be charming and generous, but gradually reveals himself to be selfish, shallow and disconcerting, so that at one point he attempts suicide and his love for Anna turns into resentment and hatred, which leads the passionate protagonist to take her own life.

At the other extreme, some people reveal themselves to be endowed with talents or virtues that no one suspected. For example, when Thomas Aquinas was sent to Cologne to study with the wisest Dominican of that time, St. Albert the Great, his classmates did not imagine the intelligence that Thomas had, and seeing him so robust and always so silent in the discussions, they nicknamed him The dumb ox. But one day one of his classmates read the notes of this young student and presented them to the wise professor. St. Albert, reading them, said to the other students: You call him “the dumb ox”. But this ox will one day fill the whole world with his mooing. He was not mistaken.

Actually, there is no need to resort to examples from literature or history. This happens to us every day with the people we are close to, as it happens to parents with a teenage son or daughter, or as it happens to many teachers with their students. If we don’t know about their talents, their dreams and their pain, how can we relate in a profound way?

But this reality is not to be discouraged. Many times, it has been proven that, for example, the happiest and most harmonious spouses are those who are continually getting to know each other, who every day discover something new about each other.

Today, the Gospel tells us: In your midst is one whom you do not know.

We should not take this phrase as a recrimination or a reproach. John himself repeats: I did not know him… and he was a relative of His. However, the first disciples found the right way to know Jesus: they stayed close to Him, where He lived. This means a healthy and intelligent curiosity: What do you have to show us? What is interesting in your life? But what is most remarkable is not the attitude of the future disciples, but the fact that Christ welcomed them where He was staying.

—ooOoo—

It seems immediate to draw two conclusions:

1. How you and I can really know Christ. It is not enough (but necessary) to read and meditate on the Gospel. It is not enough to listen to others’ experiences with Him and how He eventually changed their lives. All that helps, but the essential thing is to have a personal exchange, with Him, as He had with the first disciples when He told them: Now I call you friends, not servants (Jn 15: 15).

It is not about us confessing ourselves…it is He who confesses, who opens his heart. That is to know Christ. It is necessary that he invites us to his house.

We can guess something of what St. John the Baptist felt when he heard Christ’s request: Baptize me. It is evident that it was something unique, that John understood that he had been chosen for an unrepeatable and moving act. But let us not forget that Christ also addresses in a unique way lepers, publicans, Samaritans, lunatics, cripples, the blind, Prophets, Founders, thieves, you and me.

It is not the same for someone to speak to you of Christ’s affliction, for example, in a homily, as it is for you to receive that confidence from Himself… Let us remember when someone has declared to me: You are the only person to whom I have said this; I needed to share it. Then, that person makes himself vulnerable, he has put in my hands a delicate information and in this way he is telling me that he considers me worthy of sharing a secret or a truth that not everyone can welcome.

It is not a question of any scientific or theological truth, but the truth of his feelings, of happiness or pain or doubt. And this happens to us every day: He puts in front of us one or five thousand people (the arithmetic is not important here) to infect us with His interest and concern for her or them.

Until recently, many “intellectuals” scorned compassion as something proper to weak and immature people. Today, people are beginning to speak of compassionate empathy even as an instinct, as a very deep force that pushes a person to act. It is something beyond rational understanding of the pain of others. This helps to understand why Christ touches that intimate fiber in us. The only difficulty is that we are not sensitive to this reality, present in the lives of believers and non-believers alike.

A few days ago, a sister reminded me of an anecdote of the anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901-1978).

Once, someone asked her about the first signs of civilization. He expected her to mean an earthenware vessel or a millstone, or perhaps the first tools of war. Her answer surprised him. She said she believed the first sign of civilization was “a healed femur.” The femur is, as we know, the thigh bone. In a society based on hunting and gathering, a person with a fractured femur would be unable to care for himself and would be useless to the tribe. Someone would hunt and gather food for the injured person until the leg healed. Someone had to take care of the person who could not take care of himself. Mead said that evidence of compassion was the first sign of true civilization.

* Christ invites us to his house when he places before us one of his brothers and sisters, even the least of them (cf. Mt 25:40), so that we may accompany him with sincere interest.

* Christ invites us to his house when someone helps us and we have the opportunity to thank him with a smile.

* Christ invites us to his house when we are offended, when we are disregarded, or when we are spoken ill of for trying to be like him. He expects us then to forgive, not to turn away from those people, to find a way to accompany them.

2. The way in which we can make him known, the way to be apostles.

To invite home those whom we would like to bring closer to Christ, means, in a few words, to ask for their help. As He did with the first disciples and does with us. Naturally, such a request requires more than ingenuity or creativity; it requires a state of prayer in which I am discovering how that person can build a way for Christ to approach him or her.

When the first disciples began to help Christ, they really changed. They felt responsible for others and at the same time members of a family.

Not knowing how to help others is a tragedy. There are people who certainly CANNOT do it. The reasons are varied:

– They have suffered too much and feel hurt. They do not imagine that, in addition to needing help, they can give it.

– They have been abused and that has led them to believe they are guilty and human garbage.

– They have not had a model of generosity close to them.

If we succeed in getting a person to find a way to help others, we have changed his life and brought him closer to Christ, without a doubt. I would like to tell a personal story that I did not understand well before, but now I see how significant it was in this sense.

In my teenage years, a teacher at school, who was young and had modern ideas, wanted to implement the figure of the Course Delegate in our class. We were 13 years old and we did not really understand what this Delegate’s mission would be. The teacher explained to us that he would be a representative of everyone, to transmit suggestions and requests. There was a vote to see who could be elected.

We, with the perverse intention of having fun at the poor teacher’s expense, agreed that we were going to vote for a classmate who stood out for being a bad student, had an ungainly appearance, was short and very thin and especially clumsy at sports, careless in his dress, had very protruding teeth and we, with our sly malice, had nicknamed him “The Rat“. Really, he was not considered a model by the teachers. Of course, 100% of the votes went to him. The professor was a bit surprised, but he went ahead with the plan and The Rat was sworn in at a ceremony where we could hardly contain our laughter.

He began his term of office and was taking our aspirations, which were invariably aimed at studying less and having more free time, to the professor. Some of them were accepted and The Rat was happy, being acclaimed and respected by all of us. I don’t remember well how all our demands went, because we really didn’t have many complaints with the teacher, who was kind and attentive. But the truth is that The Rat changed radically. He improved in his studies; he stopped swearing, because he didn’t need to attract attention like that; he even became more careful in the way he dressed and tried to talk to everyone to see if we wanted any change in the way the classes were going. We even stopped calling him by his nickname and started using his real name, which we had never used before.

He changed so much that the nicest girl at the nuns’ school, whom we all admired, became his best friend. Who was once The Rat, was now a new person, without anyone giving him new advice, without any disciplinary measures.

Volunteers, catechists, Idente Youth teachers, altar boys, those invited to read a poem at the Apostolic Athenaeum, Eucharistic ministers, our co-workers… they have to see in you and me that every day we help them to discover a new way of helping others. God will do the rest.

Sharing one’s tunic, not charging more than is fair, sharing food with those who have none, are the simple things that St. John Baptist recommended to those who asked his advice. Always a more compassionate way of looking at others.

Let us learn from him, from Christ, from The Rat.

_______________________________

In the Sacred Hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

Luis CASASUS

President