20. Third Friday of Advent
Meditations no. 20 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
The voice of John the Baptist is a renewed call to penance and conversion.
The Lord is coming from heaven in splendour to visit his people, and bring them peace and eternal life. The liturgy of Advent prepares us for Christâs twofold coming. At Christmas, he comes in mercy; at the end of the world, he will come in justice. In todayâs liturgy we find references to the prophet Isaiah and St John the Baptist, who are both closely connected with these events.
Isaiah announces that God is coming to save all those who strive to repent of their evil ways and return to the paths of justice: Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. And todayâs Gospel tells us that John the Baptist was a burning and shining lamp. But many who came to hear John the Baptist preach on the banks of the Jordan refused to accept his call for a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
With the Messiah about to arrive, the Precursor speaks of penance and renewal, of the need for a radical change so as to be able to receive Christ. His message applies equally today, to each one of us. God invites us to listen to him, telling us through Isaiah: Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not! Behold, your God ⌠will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing for joy. And the Apostle Peter explains why the Lord seems to delay in fulfilling his promise: He is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
We are invited, then, to penance, to a new conversion that will prepare the way for the Lord and enable us to go forth to meet him. My child, our Father asks each of us, how are things going? Are you trying to be more discerning in your examination? Are you asking our Lord for grace to get to know him and to get to know yourself, and so be converted once more?
You should think about your life and ask for forgiveness. Seeing your poor life, ask for forgiveness and make a specific and firm resolution to improve in this or that: in what you find difficult, in what you habitually donât do as you know you should.
If we didnât feel from the depths of our soul the need for change, for conversion, it would be a sign that we didnât know ourselves well enough. We need to see our sorry state more clearly, because the way of conversion is based on humility.
John the Baptist humbly preaches and practises penance.
At the beginning of Advent, the Church encourages us through the words of St Paul: It is full time now for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light. St John the Baptist also invites us to draw nearer to Christ during Advent. I baptize you with water, he tells us, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist calls for a determined effort to remove anything that hinders us from receiving the outpouring of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus will send.
You might tell me, writes our Father, that it isnât easy, and you are right. The enemies of man - the enemies of his sanctity - try to deny him this new life, this putting on of the spirit of Christ. I can find no better summary of the obstacles to Christian fidelity than that of St John: concupiscentia carnis, concupiscentia oculorum et superbia vitae ; because all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
St John does not confine himself to asking others to do penance. He himself practises an austere but simple penance. His attitude brings to light an indisputable fact: In the spiritual life the means are always the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow. The means can never change. The prescription is always the same: personal sanctity! There is only one way: ascetical struggle, putting our faith into action. Some people think faith is a theory to be written about, instead of something living, something to be put into practice. And our living faith in Christ is accompanied by hope: the hope of being effective, in spite of our personal defects; and the hope of attaining the love that awaits us in heaven.
John the Baptist does not seek his own glory. He knows that everything comes from God - even the very air that he breathes. He makes a special effort to disappear. From the moment he first gives witness to Jesus - Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world - when Christ was still virtually unknown, John willingly hides himself. He sends his disciples to Jesus, and his own life ends in the silence and oblivion of a prison. Never complaining, he is happy to give everything to Godâs service.
John the Baptist persevered in sanctity because he was humble at heart, says St Gregory. John himself said: He must increase, but I must decrease. It would be hard to sum up more succinctly the essence of interior life.
Need for humility. Obstacles. Practical applications of this virtue.
Our growing union with Christ is directly related to our growth in humility. Humility is a demanding virtue. We cannot afford to lower our guard, because self-love is always lurking. Often we donât know ourselves well, or we refuse to accept ourselves as we really are. So we need to learn to overcome self-love, and become less filled with ourselves, in order that Christ may grow in us.
At times Christâs growth in us is hindered by an exaggerated desire on our part to stand out, which we convince ourselves is necessary for the development of our personality. Let us be sincere and look again at John the Baptist, a man of strong personality, as Jesus reminded his disciples: What did you go out into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken by the wind? Why then did you go out? To see a man clothed in soft raiment? Those acquainted with St John knew that nothing could be less like him. He had a fully developed personality; he was strong and resolute; he showed no trace of frivolity or lack of character. Precisely for this reason, his own choice of obscurity is even more praiseworthy. He made a holocaust of himself in order to further the mission of Christ, the one Messiah. God is asking us for something similar.
Do you see how it all comes down to disappearing? To do this, you need to be humble and assimilate the spirit of the Work well. Are you truly humble? Can you mortify your self-love, for the sake of charity? Can you accept those humiliations which God asks of you, in unimportant things which donât obscure the truth?
Donât forget, our Father points out, that it is a sign of divine favour to go unnoticed. I love the Gospel text where St John, describing a group of disciples, tells us: There were together Simon Peter and Thomas, called the Twin, and Nathanael, from Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. I am very fond of those two, whose names are not even known, because they remain unnoticed. I feel immensely happy to think that a whole life can be lived like that: as an apostle who hides and disappears. Though it may be difficult at times, it is very beautiful to disappear.
Let us ask God, through Maryâs intercession, to grant us humility, and the desire to disappear. Then the spirit of the Work will shine forth in our relationships with others, and we will be able to sacrifice ourselves, giving up our personal plans when necessary, so that Christ alone may reign in souls.