GOD SPEAKS TO HIS CHILDREN

 

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52.  The witness of John the Baptist

 

John, the son of the priest Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth, lived in the desert. When God called him to be his messenger, he went to a place near the Jordan river and said to the people: Mend your ways! Change your lives! Be baptised in the Jordan so that God will forgive your guilt. It was as the prophet Isaiah had written:

 

A voice cries in the wilderness: Prepare a way for the Lord, make a straight path for God. Every valley shall be raised, every mountain and hill shall be levelled. What is crooked shall be made straight and what is rough, smooth. And all mankind shall see God’s gift of salvation. (Is 40, 3-5)

 

Many people came to John at the Jordan. They requested baptism and asked: What should we do? John said: whoever has two cloaks should give one to someone who has none. Whoever has enough to eat should share with the hungry.  To the tax-collectors he said: Do not demand for more than is stipulated. And to the soldiers: Do not plunder, do not blackmail and be content with your pay.

 

Many thought that John was the Messiah, the Saviour. But John said to them: I am baptising you only with water. After me there will come One who is mightier than I. I am not worthy to undo his sandal straps. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with the fire of judgement.

 

(Lk 3, 1-18)

 

 

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