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Saturday, December 16
Saturday of the Second Week of Advent

The Patron Saint of Adulthood

As a girl in Catholic School, I was taught that John the Baptist was the “greatest of the prophets.” This never made much sense to me, probably because there the Gospel stories about John seemed so uninteresting. I was much more taken with the antics of Job or the heartfelt cries of Isaiah than the austere proclamations of John. Now as I raise my own children up in the faith, I begin to see where John’s greatness lies. Jesus himself calls him Elijah and says that John came to “restore all things.” He had to prepare the people for Jesus. And this is exactly what he does. He prepares in the desert, preaches to the people, dies at the hands of the authorities. John was singular in purpose, unflagging in his task – je never did anything that was dramatic or spectacular. His whole life was just a pointer, an indicator. And this amounts to a life that might bore the average third-grader, but inspires an adult struggling to remain in union with Jesus. In John the Baptist we have a model, simple and beautiful. Let us live today so that our life says, “Look not at me, but at the other one, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

Reflection based on Matthew 17:9a, 10-13-19
Lisa Lickona

Loving Father, let me be obedient to the One John the Baptist points out to me through the passion and sacrifice of his life.