Gospel : Matthew 3 : 1 – 12
Year A
In those days, John the Baptist appeared and proclaimed….
John the Baptist did what he was sent to do : he proclaimed. He is a voice crying. He lends his voice to God so that the divine message can be spread throughout the world. It was the role of Moses and of the Prophets of Israel. How often this order of God is repeated to those He has chosen: Go, tell My people…(Is.6) Go and shout this in their ears… (Jer. 2:1). I am sending you to them to say ….(Ezek. 2:3). They don’t have to rack their brains to find the words to say: I put My words in Your mouth. (Jer.1:9)… They must be attentive to God to transmit His message.
John has fulfilled his task well. You Yourself, Jesus, were able to eulogise him: What did you go into the wilderness to see? A prophet? … Yes, and more than a prophet! He was Your messenger going before You; he prepared the way for You ….(Lk.7:24 -28).
This is also what You want from us, from me, Lord. You send us into the world of to-day, to proclaim Your message of love to all people. For this, we must also go into the wilderness, like John the Baptist.
John the Baptist came in the wilderness of Judaea.
The wilderness is the place of meeting with God: I will send you into the wilderness and there I will speak to you heart. (Hos. 2:16). But to meet You, Lord, in the solitude of the wilderness, it is necessary to depart, it is necessary to renounce what we have and what we are…. We must empty ourselves so that You can fill us with You! John the Baptist expresses it his way: He must increase and I must decrease. There in the wilderness he found the fullness of life, true joy. He knows how to rejoice to see crowds leave him to go to You, Lord. He is the friend of the spouse, happy to let Him to the talking, to let Him have the lime-light:
Lord Jesus, let us follow You into the wilderness, and allow ourselves to be transformed by You, so that we may become, like John, carriers of Your message of love
