Matthew 11: 11-15
Jesus said to the crowds:
“Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John came; and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. Let anyone with ears listen!”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Heed the Herald
Jesus ends today’s Gospel by saying, “Whoever has ears ought to hear.” But hear what?! Jesus’ remarks about the importance of John the Baptist point us to his prophetic preaching amidst “the violent [who] are taking [the Kingdom of Heaven] by force.” Our hearing, and requisite response, should therefore focus on the wounds and wounded of the Kingdom.
For the secondary evil of violence is that it can draw us in to respond with our own violence (even if “just” in our thoughts). John the Baptist had left the city behind and lived out in the wilderness in order to draw others away from violent distraction and repent of their sin from accompanying mixed motivations.
In this season of “readying the way of the Lord,” how might we refrain from acting out, and instead, act in; to include the excluded and thereby offer the hope of he who will come and make all things new.
—Fr. Aaron Malnick, SJ, is a Vocation Promoter for the Midwest Jesuits and author of Poems to Retreat By: Praying with the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. Learn more about Jesuit life at beajesuit.org.
Prayer
O God, You raised up St. John the Baptist
to prepare a perfect people for Christ.
Fill Your people with the joy
of possessing his grace,
and direct the minds of all the faithful
in the way of peace and salvation.
Grant that as St. John was martyred
for truth and justice,
so we may energetically profess our faith in You,
and lead others to the Way, the Truth, and Eternal Life.
Amen.
—Prayer to St. John the Baptist, author unknown
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