WE ARE CALLED TO
HOLINESS AND UPRIGHTNESS
HOLINESS AND UPRIGHTNESS
"Jesus
turns the death of those who love Him into the dawn of new life." (Pope Francis)
The
Church honors St. John the Baptist today. He is the highest summit of all holy
and righteous men. He leaped in St. Elizabeth's womb during Mary's visit; he
was Jesus' Forerunner - going before Him as His herald. In turn, Jesus Christ
proclaimed and bore witness that John was superior to all the prophets, saints,
and just men throughout the ages (cf Magnificat reflection). John died for the
love of our Lord.
Today
I am using information from other commentaries that is worth sharing, so here
it goes. As Christians in our modern day society, we are also facing
persecution in many ways and forms. Headlines and news stories report daily on
bombings, organized attacks, and individual deaths that look like the death of
John the Baptist in today's Gospel. Last Christmas, Pope Francis turned his
attention to the problem of violence against Christians and said that we should
not be surprised by such mistreatment since Jesus said such things would
happen. "Nevertheless," stated the Holy Father, injustice like this
"must be denounced and eliminated." And for those of us who do not
face direct persecution, Pope Francis invited us to ask ourselves, "Am I
indifferent to that or does it affect me like it's a member of the
family?"
Those
who are violent may think they have the upper hand. But, and I do mean but,
God's steadfast love can never be taken from us. This was the hope expressed by
our Pope last December: "Jesus turns the death of those who love Him into
the dawn of new life." With John
the Baptist we are called to holiness and uprightness of life.
The
commentaries give me and you a lot to think about!