The
Catholic Vocation
A Beautiful
Paradox
He must increase; I must decrease.
(St. John 3.30)
Six Words
and a Summary
In
these six words,
St. John the Baptist summarizes our vocation as Catholics,
indeed, the vocation of every Christian at all times, in every place,
and in every situation in all we think, say, and do which, if
we are serious about Christ, ought to be everything.
The people would
have had St. John tell them that he was the Christ, the Awaited One,
and had St. John yielded to this inducement to anoint himself the Messiah
and not the one preparing His way what increase John would
have known! But John who commanded the crowds, and whom Herod himself
feared rejoices at the coming of the King and exults in
his own diminution!
At the coming
of the King, the Herald becomes unnecessary. Those that gathered around
him in great multitudes would go to another, to the King Himself
and the herald would fall to the side, his voice would cease, and to
those late in coming, he would point away from himself to the King Whom
he awaited in anticipation, had immediately acknowledged, and boldly
announced.
Such humility!
But greater humility
still: the King kneels before the Herald and is
baptized by him!
I
ought to be baptized by Thee,
and comest Thou
to me?
2 Saint John the Baptist protests and the Christ of the Living
God kneels before him in the River Jordan, that all things
may be fulfilled.
Two examples are
given us: that of the Herald who rejoices in the exaltation of the King
and the diminishing of himself ... and that of the King Who humbles
Himself to fulfill His exaltation as King.
And
you would you make yourself great, esteemed, notable,
in the eyes of men?
John knew the
way to Christ even before He came. And you still do not even
after He has come?
He
must increase ... and we must decrease.
It is the Law, the Prophets, and the Gospel; it is the summary of your
life in Christ. Except that He increase and you decrease, your life
in Christ is pretension.
_________________________________
1 St.
John 3.30
2 St.
John 3.14
Printable PDF Version
Totally Faithful to the Sacred
Deposit of Faith entrusted to the Holy See in
Rome
Scio
opera tua ... quia modicum habes virtutem, et servasti
verbum Meum, nec non negasti Nomen Meum
I
know your works ... that you have but little power,
and yet you have kept My word, and have not denied My
Name.
(Apocalypse 3.8)
Copyright © 2004 - 2023 Boston Catholic Journal. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise stated,
permission is granted by the Boston Catholic Journal
for the copying and distribution of the articles and
audio files under the following conditions: No
additions, deletions, or changes are to be made to the
text or audio files in any way, and the copies may not
be sold for a profit. In the reproduction, in any format
of any image, graphic, text, or audio file, attribution
must be given to the Boston Catholic Journal.
|
|
