20190624
PLAYING
SECOND FIDDLE
24 JUNE, 2019,
Monday, Birthday of John the Baptist
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First reading
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Isaiah 49:1-6 ©
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I will make you the light of the nations
so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth
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Islands, listen to me,
pay attention, remotest peoples.
The Lord called me before I was born,
from my mother’s womb he pronounced my
name.
He made my mouth a sharp sword,
and hid me in the shadow of his hand.
He made me into a sharpened arrow,
and concealed me in his quiver.
He said to me, ‘You are my servant (Israel)
in whom I shall be glorified’;
while I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in
vain,
I have exhausted myself for nothing’;
and all the while my cause was with the
Lord,
my reward with my God.
I was honoured in the eyes of the Lord,
my God was my strength.
And now the Lord has spoken,
he who formed me in the womb to be his
servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
to gather Israel to him:
‘It is not enough for you to be my
servant,
to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring
back the survivors of Israel;
I will make you the light of the nations
so that my salvation may reach to the ends
of the earth.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
138(139):1-3,13-15 ©
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I thank you for the
wonder of my being.
O Lord, you search me and you know me,
you know my resting and my
rising,
you discern my purpose from
afar.
You mark when I walk or lie down,
all my ways lie open to you.
I thank you for the
wonder of my being.
For it was you who created my being,
knit me together in my
mother’s womb.
I thank you for the wonder of my being,
for the wonders of all your
creation.
I thank you for the
wonder of my being.
Already you knew my soul,
my body held no secret from
you
when I was being fashioned in secret
and moulded in the depths of
the earth.
I thank you for the
wonder of my being.
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Second reading
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Acts 13:22-26 ©
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Jesus, whose coming was heralded by John
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Paul said: ‘God deposed Saul and made
David their king, of whom he approved in these words, “I have selected David
son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will carry out my whole purpose.”
To keep his promise, God has raised up for Israel one of David’s descendants,
Jesus, as Saviour, whose coming was heralded by John when he proclaimed a
baptism of repentance for the whole people of Israel. Before John ended his
career he said, “I am not the one you imagine me to be; that one is coming
after me and I am not fit to undo his sandal.”
‘My
brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and all you who fear God, this message of
salvation is meant for you.’
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Lk1:76
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Alleluia, alleluia!
As for you, little child, you shall be
called
a prophet of God, the Most High.
You shall go ahead of the Lord
to prepare his ways before him.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 1:57-66,80 ©
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'His name is John'
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The time came for Elizabeth to have her
child, and she gave birth to a son; and when her neighbours and relations heard
that the Lord had shown her so great a kindness, they shared her joy.
Now
on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; they were going to call
him Zechariah after his father, but his mother spoke up. ‘No,’ she said ‘he is
to be called John.’ They said to her, ‘But no one in your family has that
name’, and made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called. The
father asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And they were
all astonished. At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke and
praised God. All their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was
talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea. All those who heard of it
treasured it in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they
wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.
Meanwhile
the child grew up and his spirit matured. And he lived out in the wilderness
until the day he appeared openly to Israel.
PLAYING SECOND
FIDDLE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Is 49:1-6; Ps 139:1-3, 13-15; Acts 13:22-26; Lk 1:57-66-80]
Today, we celebrate the
birthday of John the Baptist. At
every birth of a child, the question as to “What will this child turn out to
be?” would come to mind, just as it did to the townsfolk of John the Baptist.
Indeed, all of us want the best in life for our children. We hope
our children will be successful in life; that they will be rich, famous and a
great leader in the world. Indeed, the greatest joy and fulfillment of
parents is to see their children succeed.
But does success mean
that they must always be at the top, above everyone else? How do we measure
success? Success
is when our children realize their vocation in life. It cannot be
determined by worldly standards because they push our children to
individualism, selfishness and ambition. It is about serving themselves,
making themselves rich, famous and powerful. It is not about serving
humanity or God. This explains why some of us cannot accept our position
in life. We always envy those who are better than us or hold a position
higher than ours.
In the case of John the
Baptist and his mother, Elizabeth, they were marvelously gracious to accept the
role of second fiddle. John
the Baptist was chosen to be only a precursor for the Messiah. He was not the
Messiah. When Mary visited Elizabeth in her pregnancy, John the Baptist
“leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and
exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the
fruit of your womb.'” (Lk 1:41f) Elizabeth was not envious that
Mary was chosen to be the mother of the Saviour. In fact, she was happy
for her. So, too, John the Baptist followed after his mother. He
was happy and contented to be the herald of the Messiah. He did not seek
to usurp the place of Jesus. In fact, he could have if wanted to, because
we are told the people thought that he was the Messiah or Elijah or the
prophet. But he said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the
wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.'” (Jn 1:23)
John the Baptist was
humble and knew his place in God’s plan. Paul said, “Before John ended his career he
said, ‘I am not the one you imagine me to be; that one is coming after me and I
am not fit to undo his sandal.'” (cf Jn 1:26f) He did not try to pretend to
be what he was not. He was not a pretender, not a fake. He was just
himself. He was just what God wanted him to be and to do. He
accepted the Lord’s choice with joy. Indeed, he never doubted the Lord’s
choice of his role for him. We can be sure that the prayer of the
psalmist was his as well when he said, “O Lord, you search me and you know me,
you know my resting and my rising, you discern my purpose from afar. You
mark when I walk or lie down, all my ways lie open to you. For it was you
who created my being, knit me together in my mother’s womb. I thank you for the
wonder of my being, for the wonders of all your creation. Already you knew my
soul, my body held no secret from you when I was being fashioned in secret and
moulded in the depths of the earth.”
If only we know God’s
will and plan for us, and are able to accept His choice for us, we will always
be happy and contented in life. The reason why some people are never happy wherever
they are is because they are never happy with themselves. They live in
deep insecurity, wanting to prove to others that they are the best. They
spend all their energy fighting with their competitors, planning and conniving
how to destroy them instead of realizing their potentials in life by doing what
they are gifted and called to do. Indeed, if there is clarity in our
calling in life, regardless of the work or position we are in, we will be
fulfilled.
For John the Baptist, he
was clear that he was called to be the precursor of our Lord. He did not want to be more than
what the Lord had chosen him to do. The words of Isaiah apply to
him. “The Lord called me before I was born, from my mother’s womb he
pronounced my name. He made my mouth a sharp sword, and hid me in the
shadow of his hand. He made me into a sharpened arrow, and concealed me in his
quiver.” John the Baptist was given the gift of preaching and he realized
his vocation by calling the people to repentance through the forgiveness so
their sins. He wanted the people to be prepared to receive the Messiah
when he came. Indeed, “the Lord has spoken, he who formed me in the womb to be
his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, to gather Israel to him.” But he
stopped there because he knew that the Messiah’s role was not just “to restore
the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel” but He would be
“the light of the nations so that (God’s) salvation may reach to the ends of
the earth.”
Hence, John the Baptist
was very happy to give way to Jesus when the time came. We read in John’s gospel that when he saw
Jesus, he pointed out to his disciples, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who
ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him;
but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to
Israel.” (Jn 1:29-31) Again
when he was told that Jesus was baptizing others, he was unperturbed.
They tried to stir up his jealousy by saying to him, “Rabbi, the one who was
with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing, and
all are going to him.” (Jn 3:26) But the
reply of John was truly one of great humility and full awareness of his
identity. He answered, “No one can receive anything except what has been
given from heaven. You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the
Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him.’ He who has the bride is the
bridegroom.” (Jn 3:26-29)
Truly, John was happy
because he fulfilled his vocation in life. It was not a matter of who he was and what he
did but that he completed the task that God gave him to do. His
conscience was clear and his joy complete. He knew that his task was to
bring others to the Messiah. So why should he be jealous, now that
others, including his disciples, were moving to Jesus? He said, “The
friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the
bridegroom’s voice. For this reason, my joy has been fulfilled. He must
increase, but I must decrease.” (Jn 3:29f) This is true for us as well.
Happiness in life is not
about being at the top or being in second place, but whether we have fulfilled
our role in God’s plan of salvation. In other words, have we brought people to
Jesus, or to ourselves? If we are only interested in bringing others to
us, we will always be insecure because there will always be competition for the
top position. It is about self and satisfying our ego. But if
we are focused on the Lord, then it does not matter who brings who to Jesus, so
long as they are brought to Jesus. When someone is brought to the Lord,
then our task is done. We can retreat and allow the Lord to complete
them. The truth is that none of us can complete each other. Only
the Lord can fulfill our heart’s desires. That is why the greatest gift
we can give to another is Jesus, just as John the Baptist did. This was
what God said, “I have selected David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart,
who will carry out my whole purpose.” To keep his promise, God has raised up
for Israel one of David’s descendants, Jesus, as Saviour.”
Indeed, the name of John
means “God has been gracious.”
God has been gracious to Zechariah and Elizabeth in blessing them with a child
in their old age. They in turn were gracious in bringing up their child
in accordance with the plan of God. And John the Baptist was truly
gracious in using his life to announce the coming of the Messiah. “The
hand of the Lord was with him. The child grew up and his spirit matured. And he
lived out in the wilderness until the day he appeared openly to Israel.”
He was gracious to lead us to Jesus and not to himself. What about
us? Are we gracious in leading others to Him?
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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