"Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist ... And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come." -- Mt. 11:11, 14 (NAB)
Today is the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, the one whom Jesus Himself called Elijah. Therefore, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I'm returning to the Elijah-Elisha theme. (Perhaps the only surprise is that I'm blogging for the third time this month! :-))
St. Francis de Sales, in one of his Advent sermons, wrote that St. John the Baptist's "humility, it seems to me, is the most excellent and the most perfect that has ever been, after that of Our Lord and the most sacred Virgin." (The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales for Advent and Christmas, Rockford, IL: TAN Books, 1984, p. 22) The people of Judea are all abuzz over the possibility that he might be the Messiah. The priests and Levites even came out to him to ask if he's the Messiah. He could easily have yielded to the temptation to claim for his own the title.
But his commitment to the truth is too great. He will not claim to himself that which is not rightly his. In fact, as St. Francis points out, he doesn't even claim that title -- Elijah -- which rightly was his. As St. Francis puts it, "Admirable humility!"
Father, thank You for the wonderful example of St. John the Baptist, especially his amazing humility. Please help us in the Elijah generation especially to imitate his commitment to truth which allows this grace of humility to flow through our lives and into the lives of others. Amen.
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