Tag: John the Baptist

Job 25-27: The Storm Wind
Job 25-27: The Storm Wind

Hurricane Gertrude hits the U.K. in 2017

Monday, August 11, 2025

A Favorite from 2010.

This weekend we have considered Job’s plight, and Job’s questions. We have observed Job’s interactions with his friends, and we have witnessed his fidelity, hope, and righteousness before insurmountable odds and circumstances. Today we return to a favorite from December 9, 2010 as we look at the next few chapters of this story.

Job refuses to bend to social pressure. He refuses to cave in to public opinion. He remains faithful to God. He knows that only God has the power to give us immortal breath, only God has a love that will sustain us through all misery. He knows that only God brings true and eternal serenity and joy. Job responds to God’s call – even when this call comes to him through storm clouds.

Father Alfred Delp was a German priest condemned to death by Nazis in WWII. He died in 1945. His words are today’s MAGNIFICAT Meditation, and they refer to John the Baptist who, like Job, sought God, heard God, and were condemned for conveying God’s message. They were tossed by storms, but remained faithful to God.

When the Christian is asked, or asks himself, “Who are you?” this is primarily a questioning of his reality. Are you a person whose concerns are with God? Are you a person of whom it can be said that your heart and your mind are filled with a peace that surpasses all comprehension? . . . [T]he Calling-God [is one] who calls out in the midst of the wilderness through voices of men. He has filled them, and their very being documents that such perfected people are among us, sent by God.

Job tells us that only through, and with, and in God, can we weather the deadly winds whipped up by the storm. His friends do not bring the voice of God to him, yet he persists in faith.

Fr. Delp and John the Baptist are physically destroyed by the winds of time. Job is not. Yet all three men tell us who God is by the manner in which they live their lives in the tempest, in the wilderness, and through the maelstrom. What documentation of our faith to we show others when we weather the storms of life? What is our story? How do we live it when we are buffeted by the winds of the storm?

Cameron, Peter John. “Meditation of the Day.” MAGNIFICAT. 9.12 (2010). Print.

Tomorrow, in praise of wisdom.

Image from: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/639377/Gertrude-chaos-hurricane-force-winds-transport-power-lines
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August 11, 2025

fidelity, Fr. Alfred Delp, hope, John the Baptist, righteousness
Mark 1:1-11: Wading Into the Waters
Mark 1:1-11: Wading Into the Waters

Thursday, September 8, 2022

I am wondering what I might have thought if I had seen and heard John the Baptist telling the good news that freedom from fear was arriving.

I am wondering what I might have said if I had watched or even experienced the healing work of Christ and his apostles.

I am wondering what I might have done if I had been called into the river to immerse myself in the waters.

And then I realize that . . .

I have heard and seen . . .

I have watched and even experienced . . .

I have been called into the river . . .

And at times I wade into waters that are sometimes dark, murky and swirling. At other times I thrill at the clarity and purity of the water. And always my God walks with me to heal, to proclaim and to call. I have but to answer with my hands, my feet, my heart and my will.

Image from: http://www.jesus-story.net/baptism.htm

A favorite from September 14, 2010.
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September 8, 2022

John the Baptist
Mark 1:3: The Voice
Mark 1:3: The Voice

John the Baptist

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

The voice of one crying out in the wilderness is often drowned out by the din of the world that clamors for its own comfort and pleasure. Prophets and martyrs are derided and put aside, punished and even murdered because of their fidelity to the voice that speaks to them in the inmost heart. Those who hear and respond to that voice in the wilderness are more often ridiculed than praised and more often silenced than thanked. This is the struggle we experience daily. How do we sort out the inner messages that tug at us?

Those who refuse to kowtow, who insist on speaking truth, and who ask tough questions also expect justice and mercy to overcome deception and evil. John the Baptist was one of these clear-throated voices that pierced through the cacophony of the moment to burn so brightly that we remember him still today. Most of us do not expect to live in such a momentous way, but our more quiet lives are no less important.

Satan Tempting Jesus

Matthew 4:8-10 is part of the Morning Prayer in MAGNIFICAT today and it tells the story of the conversation between Satan and Jesus at the moment when Christ begins his ministry. In the meditation today entitled The Heart of True Wisdom, Dom Augustin Guillerand, O. Cart. (a spiritual writer of the last century) tells us that when we hear the voice of darkness whispering in our ear, we will know how to react according to the measure of our love for God. What is difficult here is to know whether the voice we hear speaks from good or from evil. This is our constant struggle; yet we will know that the source is goodness when we hear it calling us to right wrongs against those among us who are the weakest. We will know that the source is darkness when it encourages us to seek self-pleasure and comfort at the expense of the marginalized and forgotten.

In the end, we act according to our understanding of the voice we hear and tend to best; even our most quiet activities are a demonstration of what we believe and what god or gods we worship. So this is perhaps what we must say to ourselves – just as Jesus does: The Lord my God I shall worship. Him alone will I serve.

Tomorrow, Jesus and his family.

Cameron, Peter John. “Meditation of the Day.” MAGNIFICAT. 16.9 (2009). Print.

A Favorite from September 16, 2009.

Images from: http://sarahellenbrown.com/tag/john-the-baptist/ and http://www.catholicmannight.com/learn-about-jesus/blog/page/13/ and https://renewingthoughts.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/on-hearing-the-voice-of-god/
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August 24, 2022

Dom Augustin Guillerand, God’s goodness, John the Baptist, Matthew 4:8-10, message, Satan, wisdom
Ezekiel 33:14-16: We Shall Surely Live
Ezekiel 33:14-16: We Shall Surely Live

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life”. (John 6:68)

Monday, February 28, 2022

Though I say to the wicked man that he shall surely die, if he turns away from his sin and does what is right and just, giving back pledges, restoring stolen goods, living by the statutes that bring life, and doing no wrong, he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of the sins committed shall be held against him; he has done what is right and just, he shall surely live.

Just when we believe that there is no redemption we read these verses. The wicked may also survive to live eternally once they repent. If there are enemies among, let us pray as Jesus asks us to pray.

From Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M.: “A prophet is one who keeps God free for people and who keeps people free for God. It is a two-sided task. He or she is committed to the covenant love between humanity and the Divine–at all costs–and keeping God totally free for people. That is a very hard thing to do, because at least in the Bible the priestly class invariably makes God less accessible instead of more so: ‘Neither entering yourselves nor letting others enter in’ as Jesus boldly puts it (Matthew 23:13). For our own job-security, the priestly mentality tends to say, ‘You can only come to God through us, by doing the right rituals and obeying the rules.’ Formal ministers are too often good at teaching people ‘learned helplessness.’ That’s why the prophets spend so much time destroying and dismissing these barriers to create ‘a straight highway to God’ (Matthew 3:3) as John the Baptist tries to do, and Jesus does with such determination and partial success. But now you know why they were both killed”.

Spend time with these verses from Ezekiel and Matthew today and reflect on their meaning along with the words from Richard Rohr and consider . . . as we go through our days, do we liberate more than we bind, do we heal more than we hurt, do we love more than we judge, do we live more than we die?

Richard Rohr citation in this post is from “Prophets as Liberators,” Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation for Monday, February 20, 2015. http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Richard-Rohr-s-Meditation–Prophets-as-Liberators.html?soid=1103098668616&aid=O17vFLcGtV4
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February 28, 2022

Jesus, John 6:68, John the Baptist, priests, Richard Rohr, the wicked
Luke 1:5-17: Turning Many
Monday, November 30, 2020

El Greco: St. John the Baptist

Luke 1:5-17

Turning Many

There was a priest named Zechariah who had a wife, Elizabeth. Both were righteous in the eyes of God, but they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and they were both advanced in years. An angel of God came to Zechariah and announced: “Do not be afraid, your prayer has been answered. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God”.

John the Baptist turns many to God. Might we say the same of ourselves?

God says: Each of you is my witness. Each of you has the capacity to call others to my side. The work of witnessing does not require great works. On the contrary, it only requires simple and honest living. Your actions speak far more eloquently than your words so do not worry about what you might say on my behalf. Live your life in fidelity to me. Live your life with integrity in the Spirit. Live your life openly and honestly as Jesus does . . . and this will be witness enough. In this way, your life will be the turning of many to me.

We too often depend on our own resources to do God’s will when all God asks is that we serve as a faithful conduit. We must learn to let God do the heavy lifting, quick thinking, and clever speaking . . . through the authentic living of our lives.

To learn more about John the Baptist, enter his name in the blog search bar and explore.

Image from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_John_the_Baptist_(El_Greco)
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November 30, 2020

fidelity, honesty, integrity, John the Baptist
Luke 1:67-79: Benedictus
Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Zechariah, John, Elizabeth and Mary

Luke 1:67-79

Benedictus

In the tradition of The Liturgy of the Hours this Canticle of Zechariah is sung as part of Lauds, or Morning Prayer or Prime, and although the verses are intoned by Zechariah on the birth of his son John the Baptist, they prophesy the coming of Jesus the Messiah, the Light of the World. Commentary tells us that their origin may have been an early Jewish Christian hymn that Luke adapted for his story. (Senior cf. 100) Today we examine these verses to see how we might bring full voice to our thanksgiving that God is not a remote and distant deity who merely observes the events that surround our lives, but a merciful and loving parent who chooses to live and move among us.

Zechariah begins by praising God for releasing us from all that binds and for delivering us from our enemies the prophets have promised. He reminds us of the covenant we have with God and all that it promises, and then he urges his child, John, to fulfill his role as herald of the Word. Describing the coming Messiah as the dawn from on high, Zechariah recalls for us the purpose of this light for the world: to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

In our world of immediate satisfaction and quick fulfillment, it is difficult to find our place in God’s plan that unfolds through the millennia to unite billions of souls, and it is both fitting and helpful that we rise each morning to intone these words of Zechariah as part of our morning prayer. When we pray the Benedictus we unite ourselves with all the faithful who greet each day with these same words of thanksgiving, remembrance and promise. So let us give thanks. Let us remember God’s promises. And let us walk with our God in the way of peace.

When we look at the entire first Chapter of Luke we discover how God prepares the faithful for the coming of Emmanuel, the incarnation of God’s Word Among Us, Jesus the Christ. We also understand more fully how carefully God’s heart and hand entwine with each precious life.

Image from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/180214422562937316/

Senior, Donald, ed. THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE. New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.100. Print.
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July 21, 2020

Canticle of Zechariah, Elizabeth, God’s plan, John the Baptist, Lauds, Liturgy of the Hours, Mary, Prime, promise, remembrance, thanksgiving
Psalm 28: The Rock
Psalm 28: The Rock

Monday, December 30, 2019

In today’s Gospel John the Baptist tells us that he went out to the desert and there he encountered God; we are reminded that we must go apart, from time to time, as Jesus did to recoup, to re-focus, to re-listen. Even the one who heals all wounds and mends all brokenness goes off to pray for a little while.

Today’s Noontime focuses us on the origin of our strength.

To you, My Lord, I call; my Rock, do not be deaf to me. It is in the heat of desert days that we find an unyielding foundation on which to put our feet. Our foundation is the Rock, the Lord.

The Lord is my strength and my shield, in whom my heart trusted and found help. It is in the chill of the desert nights that we discover we need constant protection from the buffets of the world. We find this protection in the Rock, the Lord.

If you fail to answer me, I will join those who go down to the pit. It is in the desert extremes that we realize we are nothing, our puny resources are for naught without the Rock, the Lord.

So my heart rejoices; with my song I praise my God. It is in the harsh, desert reality, with all resources stripped away, that we come to understand the value of our relationship with the Rock, the Lord.

Lord, you are the strength of your people, the saving refuge of your anointed king. It is in the beauty of the desert simplicity that we come to believe that the Rock, our Lord, loves us more than we have imagined.

Rather than fear loss we must be open to its message, for although God is our constant companion we do not feel God’s true presence because we have filled our days with our own activity.

Rather than lament a world that is woefully off course, we might instead turn to the Rock, the Lord, for sustenance and hope.

Rather than funnel our energy into petty arguments and the useless struggle over power we do not even possess, we might rely instead on the Rock, the Lord, for clarity of vision and purity of intent.

Rather than hide our envy and resentment over the good fortune of others, we might look to the Rock, the Lord, for a steadfast spirit and a constant heart.

Prepare the way of the Lord, The Baptist calls out the words of the prophet Isaiah. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill made low. When we journey into the desert to better hear the Lord, our way will be smoothed out for us by the Lord. No more will we skitter down steep slopes as we travel. No more will we exhaust ourselves as we climb over the huge problems that appear before us. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth. No more will we worry which way to turn and which way to go. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. The Lord, our Rock, assures us of our rescue.

As we reflect and pray in this Christmastide, let us return with The Baptist to the desert, let us listen again to the familiar words of Isaiah, and let us build our permanent home on the only Rock that both rescues and sustains. Let us wait on the Lord.

Adapted from a reflection first posted on December 9, 2012.

Image from: http://www.ehow.com/info_8087024_deserts-drive-through.html
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December 30, 2019

Isaiah 40:3-5, John the Baptist, Luke 3:1-6, rescue, shield, strength, The Rock
Obadiah: Revenge and Forgiveness
Obadiah: Revenge and Forgiveness

Sunday, September 29, 2019

French School, 17th Century: Salomé
More thoughts on Salomé who sought revenge . . . and who asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter.

“We know nothing about Obadiah beyond his name, nor is the place of the book’s composition certain . . . Obadiah did not specify that his message came at the time of any specific king or event. On the other hand Obadiah 11-14 indicates that a major calamity had struck Judah and that the Edomites had capitalized on Judah’s troubles to their own advantage . . . common sense and a broad consensus suggest that the calamity was in fact the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.

“Obadiah was written to the people of Judah about the Edomites (descendents of Esau), condemning them for their treachery and violence toward the people of Judah, as well as for their arrogance and indifference toward God”. (Zondervan 1464)

This is the kind of prophecy which makes us cringe as we understand that revenge is not something we want as part of our value complex. Seeking vengeance is the kind of thinking my parents continually warned us against for it can never be good. We were often reminded in our growing years that when we dig a grave for our enemy we ought to dig two: one for them and one for us. “The truth will always come out in the end”, Dad would remind us. “Don’t worry about the other guy getting credit that is not due him, or the other guy getting away with things. It’ll all come out in the end. Just keep your eye on yourself and your God. And let God handle the other guy”. Dad warned us that human depravity was too crooked and too frightening for us to correct; he knew from personal experience that only God can deal effectively with deep evil. We humans – even when we are in the best of places and times – cannot conquer forces that have spent eons gathering strength in the dark. It is far better, according to Dad, to go to the light and stay there. “That way God can see you and pick you up on his way home”.

Mother always intoned her mantra of “Kill your enemies with kindness. Pray for them and you will never be alone; because you can bet on it that when people are that naughty lots of people will be praying along with you. Think of the message God will hear when all those voices join together”, she would remind us. “Yes, I know you want to get back at them but just pray for them. They will need your prayers. And besides, the results are better”.

These simple lessons were either never delivered or they were lost on Salomé who asked for and received John the Baptist’s head on a platter. Yesterday we spent time reflecting on her portrait and we saw her sultry stare and sullen posture, arms draped around the killing knife and the platter that would deliver the head of her enemy. Today we see a similar likeness; she looks out at us in apparent satisfaction yet we know that revenge is not sweet. It does not last and it does not satisfy. It only brings about our own destruction and doom. These are the truths spoken by Obadiah more than two millennia ago . . . and they are truths we can still use today. We must wipe revenge from our hearts and replace it with forgiveness for the measure that we measure with is measured out to us.

And so we pray . . .

When we are most hurt by others, we must not strike back, we must forgive.

When we are most neglected by others, we must not plot their downfall, we must forgive.

When we are most abused by others, we must ask for their redemption and we must forgive.

When we are most abandoned by others, we must not treat them in like fashion, we must forgive.

When we are most damaged by others, we must not in turn inflict damage, we must forgive.

God forgives. God restores. God repairs. God cures. We are each called to do the same. Amen.

A re-post from September 9, 2012.

Image from: http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/20016/lot/55/

ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY BIBLE (NIV). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2005. 1464. Print.

For more on the prophecy of Obadiah go to the Obadiah – Outrageous Hope page on this blog.
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September 29, 2019

Edomites, Esau, John the Baptist, pray for enemies, Salome
Mark 6:30-33: Return of the Disciples
Mark 6:30-33: Return of the Disciples

Seventh Sunday of Easter, June 2, 2019

The Gospel of Mark is intense and to the point – and this citation is no exception. Today we reflect on the return of the disciples to Jesus after they had been sent forth with his Word to heal and free the oppressed and suffering. Looking at this chapter as a whole, we read of how Jesus appears on the world stage, preaching in synagogues on Sabbaths, answering the many questions put to him, and also challenging his listeners with questions of his own. He makes a circuit of the villages. He sends forth the twelve in twos, giving them power over unclean spirits, instructing them to take nothing for their journey but their trust in the Lord. He schools them in how they are to enter a house and offer peace – and that if this peace comes back to them they are to shake the dust of this place from their sandals and move on.

Sandwiched between the departure and return of these disciples, we have the story of how John the Baptist is executed to serve the silly jealousy of a corrupt family. This serves as a clear instruction to us, Jesus’ 21^st Century apostles, that while following the Master is a glorious and rewarding journey, it is a path hemmed in by dangers of all kinds. Following the return of these workers, we see Jesus feed five thousand followers from five loaves and two fish. Then Jesus walks on water and performs other miracles. This is a chapter packed with energy and wonder.

This is what I like most about Mark, his clean presentation of the lightning bolt effect Jesus has had on our physical and spiritual worlds. There is so much going on that when we to pause to meditate on just a few verses we see well beyond the words . . . we understand stories recorded in our collective experience. Who among us has not at some time done something we never thought possible? Who has not reached the safety of a refuge after a rewarding but difficult day of working in God’s vineyard to collapse into the sureness of God’s love? Who has not desired to draw apart for a little while and found that the very people we were escaping have met us on the shore?

Today we reflect on how these disciples blunder along behind Jesus, are sent by him and return to him in awe of the sign of Christ’s love for them . . . the gift of healing they have been given to share. We see them pile into their fishing crafts to withdraw and rest in a desert place . . . to be met by a mass of people who have anticipated their landing and who have hurried to meet them. These people hunger for the words of life which Jesus offers them, and so these weary apostles gird themselves, put off their own search for quiet and peace, and do as Jesus tells them. They trust in their Teacher. Their rest will have to happen later.

And so we pause to pray, we who seek to draw apart a while into the desert and rest, but who are met by the mass of demands of our life of apostleship:

Jesus, friend of all, we return to you weary from the life of work which we have done in your name: Give us refuge and strength.

Jesus, master of all, we return to you with the fruits of our journey, the signs of our love for you: Give us food and drink.

Jesus, lover of all, we follow you into the next life where we wish to dwell in the house of the Lord: Give us insight and compassion.

Jesus, brother of all, we bring ourselves to you, a gift given and now returned: Give us peace and joy.

Amen.

A re-post from May 19, 2012.

Image from: http://www.gil-bailie.com/2012_01_01_archive.html
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June 2, 2019

John the Baptist