Sunday Meditation: John the Baptist

All important comings require preparation.  Today we have the preparation for the coming Lord.  We meet John the Baptist, who echoes the words from Isaiah to make things ready.

 

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

 

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;

he will prepare your way.

A voice of one crying out in the desert:

“Prepare the way of the Lord,

make straight his paths.”

John the Baptist appeared in the desert

proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

People of the whole Judean countryside

and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem

were going out to him

and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River

as they acknowledged their sins.

John was clothed in camel’s hair,

with a leather belt around his waist.

He fed on locusts and wild honey.

And this is what he proclaimed:

“One mightier than I is coming after me.

I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.

I have baptized you with water;

he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

~Mk 1:1-8

Fr. Joseph Mary of the Capuchin Franciscans gives a passionate exegesis of just who John the Baptist is and the importance of John’s message. 

 

 

Fr. Joseph reminds me of John the Baptist himself! 

Meditation: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.”