Pope: John the Baptist – true disciple, model of humility

February 7, 2014: Proclaiming the Gospel without taking advantage of the privilege of being Christians: described Pope Francis during Mass Friday morning at the Casa Santa Marta. Referring to the Gospel of the day on the martyrdom of John the Baptist he pointed out that, like him, the true disciple of Christ follows the path of humility without taking hold of prophecy.

Herod had him killed to satisfy the whim of his mistress Herodias and her daughter. John is a man who had a short life, a short time to proclaim the Word of God. He was the man that God had sent to prepare the way for His Son. And John's life ends tragically, at the court of Herod amidst a banquet. Where courts are concerned anything is possible: corruption, vices, crimes. Courts favour these things. What did John do? First of all, he proclaimed the Lord. He proclaimed that the Saviour, the Lord was close at hand, that the Kingdom of God was close at hand. And he had done so with great vigour. He baptized. He exhorted all to repentance. He was a strong man. And he preached Jesus Christ.

The first, great thing John did was to proclaim Jesus Christ. Moreover he did not take advantage of his moral authority. He had a chance to say 'I am the Messiah', because he had so much moral authority, …all the people came to him! And the Gospel tells us that John told them all to convert. And the Pharisees, the doctors saw his strength: He was a righteous man. Then, they asked him if he was the Messiah. And in that ‘moment of temptation, of vanity’ he could have shrugged and with a false humility said "But I do not know ... ". Instead, he was clear: "No, not I! After me comes one who is stronger than I, of whom I am not worthy to bend over and loosen the thongs of his sandals”. John was clear. He did not steal the title. He did not take over as the master. This then, is the second thing that he did. He was a man of truth. Do not steal dignity. The third thing that John did is to ‘imitate Christ.’ Even Herod, who killed John, believed that Jesus was John.

John observed, ..he imitated Jesus. Especially in the way he humbled himself: John humbled himself even to the end, until death. Also there is the same style of death, shameful: Jesus like a robber, a thief, a criminal on the cross. "Humiliating deaths. But John also had his 'Garden of olives', his anguish in prison, when he thought he made ​​a mistake, and sends his disciples to ask Jesus: 'But tell me, is it you or did I make a mistake and there is another? The darkness of the soul, …the darkness that purifies… like Jesus in the Garden of Olives. And Jesus answered John like the Father answered Jesus, comforting. That darkness of the man of God, the woman of God. This makes me think of the dark night of the soul of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta...no? Ah, the woman who was praised all over the world, a Nobel Laureate ! But she knew that in a certain moment of her life, her long life, there was only darkness inside.

The one who announced Jesus Christ, John, did not take over the prophecy, he is the icon of a disciple. But where was the source of his attitude of discipleship?. It came from an encounter. The Gospel tells us about the encounter between Mary and Elizabeth, when John leaped for joy in Elizabeth's womb. They were cousins. Maybe they met a few times. And that encounter was filled with joy, so much joy for John's heart and turned him into a disciple. John is the man who proclaims Jesus Christ, who does not take the place of Jesus Christ but follows the path of Jesus Christ.

It would do us good today, to ponder over our discipleship: do we proclaim Jesus Christ? Do we take advantage or not of our condition as Christians, as if it were a privilege? John did not take advantage of his prophecy. Thirdly, do we follow the path of Jesus Christ? The path of humiliation, humility, humbling ourselves in service? And if we find that we are not firm in this we should ask: ' When was my encounter with Jesus Christ? ..that meeting that filled me with joy? And return to that first encounter, return to the Galilee of our first meeting. We all have one! We must go back there! Meet again with the Lord and go forward on this path that is so beautiful, in which He must grow and we decrease."