Today’s Gospel passage is especially relevant as we begin a new year with resolutions and hope. In this reading we hear John’s declaration echoing the words of Isaiah, “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’”
John the Baptist gave this declaration to the Levite priests who came from Jerusalem to Bethany to inquire about his identity. The Evangelist describes Bethany as “across the Jordan,” meaning the side nearest to Jerusalem. Throughout John’s Gospel, John the Baptist and Jesus encounter confrontation, difficulties, and even death threats in Judea, on this side of the Jordan. For example, when Jesus learns of Lazaraus’ death and intends to cross the Jordan to console Mary and Martha, he says to the disciples, “Let us go back to Judea” (Jn 11:7). The disciples remind Jesus, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?” (Jn 11:8).
John the Baptist, by situating himself across the Jordan in Judea, really is a voice in the wilderness – he’s in a place that is unfamiliar with his message, and where some will be hostile and violent to even the idea of an encounter with the Messiah. Yet John persists prophetically by announcing “Make straight the way of the Lord.”
As we contemplate what it means to follow Jesus this year and to spread his message, are we willing to be a voice in the wilderness, wherever that wilderness may be? Whether in family life, at school, or at work, in the coffee shop, or on a street corner? Are we willing to “cross the Jordan,” to step out of the safety of our comfort zones to share the Gospel? May Saint John the Baptist intercede for us, that God may grant us courage and fortitude this year.
Daily Reading
Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious
Readings for the Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, religious [In the Dioceses of the United States] Reading 1 1 John 3:7-10 Children, let no one deceive you. The person…
Saint of the Day
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first native born American to be canonized by the Catholic Church. She helped establish the first free Catholic school in America.
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