John The Baptist

one

Sunday is the Baptism of Jesus. John the Baptist prepares the way

Matthew 3 John the Baptist appeared; he preached in the wilderness of Judaea and this was his message: 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand'… But when he saw a number of Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism he said to them, 'Brood of vipers, who warned you to fly from the retribution that is coming? But if you are repentant, produce the appropriate fruit…Even now the axe is laid to the roots of the trees, so that any tree which fails to produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire.

John was beheaded at the request of Herodias, the wife of King Herod because he was not silent in the face of evil; John told the King to his face it was wrong for him to have divorced his wife and then taken his brother’s wife. For bearing witness to the truth, John was imprisoned and beheaded. We honor the Martyrdom of John and ask his intercession that we may be like him – that we may give heroic witness to the truth – cost what it may.

Two

The first moral principle is to do good and avoid evil.

The problem today is that people do not know what is good and what is evil. Something is good for me if it helps me achieve my purpose – be and live as a son of God – a saint. We achieve this by doing the will of God, by doing what is Good. And we can know with absolute certainty what is good and what is evil through Reason and by what God has Revealed, that is through Scripture, Tradition and the Teaching of the Church. This is all summed up in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

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Like John the Baptist we have a responsibility bear witness to what is good and what is evil.

Do not hate people or condemn them to hell. But judge what is good and evil and do not remain silent in the face of evil. Marriage, sex and babies in that order is good because it helps us and society achieve its purpose.  Divorce, contraception, abortion, homosexual activity, pornography, and sex-changes are bad because they are self-destructive of the human person and society. If we love people, then we don’t want them to destroy themselves. Economically socialism is bad – the CCC condemns it. Capitalism can be good, but it needs to be governed to prevent greed and exploitation from taking over. Religious freedom is very good – that is why it is the first amendment. The right to bear arms – the second amendment is good – it protects religious freedom. Know what is good, do what is good; hate what is evil and avoid evil and do not be silent about both. That is why we need to read the Catechism. To know what is good.

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John’s message was simple: Repent and believe; Bear the fruit that befits repentance.

The fruit is two-fold: it is first a life of virtue and holiness. Vice and sin are self-destructive – they prevent us from reaching our full potential and they ruin happiness. We are called to convert from sin to virtue and from virtue to holiness. But, we stop short. We convert from big sins to hidden sins, pride, envy, sloth and stop there. Oh yes, I know, God is merciful, and He will finish the process in purgatory. But, do we love God so little that we choose pleasure and power over him? That is what sin is. Let us not love God with half-measures but with a full heart and become what we were made to be – Saints!

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The second way we are called to bear fruit is by being a Disciple Maker.

The one and only mission Jesus gave the Church was to go and make disciples. Our mission is to lead people to Jesus through Mary. We are responsible to do this in our families and with our friends. How do we bring Jesus to others? First – Love unconditionally and delight in people. Be genuinely interested in others and ask them questions about their lives to know understand love and care for them. If you don’t know them and understand them, how will they trust you and follow you. Share life with them by just doing what you both like to do and have good conversation while you do it. Then invite them to pray the Rosary with you. Sometimes they won’t but sometimes they will. Live friendship and then invite them to pray the Rosary and be detached from their answer or the outcome.