St John the Baptist

Certainly one of the most underrated saints in heaven is St John the Baptist. He was the same age as Jesus, born of St Elizabeth, and most probably grew up with Jesus as his buddy and best friend. Many of the paintings in fact depict them together as little boys, little toddlers being admired by Mary and Elizabeth, with Joseph and Joachim in the background. This particular painting by Tintoretto shows the birth of John. Both children grew up close to each other as most paintings testify. What we seem to underestimate in John is his respect he had towards Jesus. He spent plenty of time in prayer, preparing for the coming into action of Jesus. In fact his motto was precisely “Prepare the way of the Lord,” a phrase we hear predominantly during the Advent Season. We see him in the desert converting people and encouraging them to turn to his Master, baptizing him in the process, while he disappeared into oblivion. Unfortunately he never got any credit, but was arrested and beheaded by Herod. Today we celebrate his birth, a festivity and solemnity, while his martyrdom is celebrated on August 29th. In the Gospel of John the Evangelist (Jn 3:30,) we read that John the Baptist said about Jesus: “He must increase, while I must decrease.” This is very indicative of what will happen after Jesus’ baptism. Jesus became well known, while John disappeared into the background. Yet while the popularity of Jesus increased, John faded away, and we see him again being arrested and then being beheaded by Herod. Yet there is another interesting twist to the phrase “He must increase and I must decrease.” John’s birthday falls close to the summer solstice, one of the longest days of the year, and from now on, the days will start decreasing, leading to one of the shortest days of the year, which is Christmas, the birthday of Jesus, close to the winter’s solstice, and from then on, the days will start getting longer. It’s a notion worth adapting to in our daily lives - we must decrease our yearnings, our dreams, our wishes, while we should let Him increase in us, increasing our potential to love, increase our prayer life, our devotion to duty, our commitment to our faith.