GOD IS GRACIOUS

Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist Luke 1:57-66,80 Today we celebrate the birth of St. John the Baptist. The name John means “God is gracious”. Today’s feast day reminds us that we have a God who can make impossible becomes posible. He is a God who never denies our longings. His timing is perfectly perfect. John was born with a mission. What’s the mission of this baptizer? He prepares people for the Lord. Like John we are encouraged to lead and draw others to Jesus not to ourselves. That is why he is known to be as the precursor of the Messiah. What lessons can we learn from the life of John the Baptist? Like him let us live in simplicity, appreciate repentance and value the importance of humility. My dear friends these are the three powerful weapons we need this time. Life is simple don’t complicate it. We are sinful, we failed so many times but keep asking for forgiveness. Don’t be ashmed to say sorry. When people appreciate us, give the credit back to God. We see John’s humility when he did not want attention on himself but directed people to Jesus. When Jesus came to John asking for baptism, John recognized Jesus at once and said, “Look, there is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” After Jesus’ baptism once again we see John turning the attention to Jesus as he declared, “He must increase, I must decrease.” (John 3:30) Finally, like John the Baptist let us be a messenger of truth. What kind of truth? He upholds the dignity of marriage and condemning the adulterous relationship of Herod and Herodias. He was beheaded because of that. So like John the Baptist don’t be aftraid to speak out the truth even if it cost your life. People may hate us but never mind because what matter most is living in truth. Friends, never tolerate any mistakes of people close to us especially if it concerns in morality. Blessings Fr. Jhack