Salve, Regina, Mater Misericordiae.
This is one of the texts from Holy Scripture that causes great confusion
as to just what our Lord is saying about St. John the Baptist.
Is he holier than St. Joseph? Is he greater than the apostles?
And indeed, if he was born of woman, then is he greater than the Blessed Virgin Mary?
And that is not what our Lord is saying here,
although we know from the life of the Church that St. John the Baptist is one of the greatest of all the saints.
But our Lord is alluding to all those of the old dispensation,
that he is the greatest of all the prophets, and he exceeds them in holiness,
and he exceeds them in the gifts that were given to all the prophets.
But most particularly, he is greater than them because he was truly a virgin,
he was truly a prophet, and he was truly a follower of Christ,
and it was all blessed with his martyrdom, the greatest martyrdom of all the prophets.
And so, our Lord is instructing each and every one of us that by dignity we are greater
because in our incorporation into the mystical body by baptism,
we are elevated to what St. John pointed to.
He never became, as a member of the old dispensation, a formal member of the Church,
as all those who are baptized.
And so, it does not exclude that St. Joseph and the apostles and many saints
are greater than St. John the Baptist because St. Joseph was of a different order.
He was more, as it were, of the order of the new dispensation than of the old.
And so, while he certainly...
When he was great in holiness, our Lord wishes to point out by today's passage
the dignity that each and every one of us receives in our incorporation into the mystical body.
By that very nature, we are greater than St. John the Baptist,
although that does not mean that in our personal lives we exceed him in holiness.
Our Lord gives us the key to holiness, that is, we must do violence to ourselves.
We must constantly do violence to our faults and failings,
always striving to overcome our pride in our sinful ways,
and completely conforming ourselves to the will of God.
And in this, we can learn from St. John the Baptist
and all the great saints of both the old and of the new,
for the primary key to do violence to ourselves is that spirit of humility.
We must humbly submit ourselves to the formation of Christ.
We must humbly submit ourselves to the formation of the Church.
And indeed, this is perhaps why the world is in such great problems
because members of the mystical body and their reflections,
their refusal to submit themselves to the formation of the Church,
denying what the Holy Father, the greatest prophet of our modern times,
and the greatest prophet to be until the end of time,
denying what he constantly teaches us,
constantly what he asks the mystical body to do.
And so, we become more members of the enemy.
We become, in our practical lives often,
more akin to the enemies of the Church than to be the friends of the Church.
And so, we must strive always and everywhere,
to do violence, and the key to this is to know that our Lord came
in order that we might receive his mercy.
And so, in order to do violence to ourselves, we too must be merciful.
We must be patient with ourselves.
We must be patient with others.
We must always be striving for our own personal holiness
and always must desire the holiness of all, not simply the members of the mystical body,
but those outside the mystical body, so that they may come to know
and to love what St. John the Baptist was pointing to.
Because what he has pointed to is fulfilled in Christ,
and there is no new dispensation to come.
It is the final dispensation.
It is the dispensation of God's mercy,
and it ultimately is attained by union with God through his Church.
And so, let us strive always and everywhere to thank our Lord for his instruction in today's Gospel,
but most especially for the dignity that he has raised us to.
We may ask that it would have been better for St. John
to have been born during the new dispensation,
but it was not within the realm of Providence to do so.
He chose those whom he chose, and so we have great work to do,
as our Lord instructs us.
To whom much is given, much will be expected.
And so, by our baptism, much has been given to us, and much will be expected of us.
And so, let us strive by imitating St. John the Baptist to do everything for the Lord,
for his whole life was a life for the Lord.
a life of pointing to the one to come, the one whom
sandals he was unworthy to tie, and we sit down with the one
that he spoke of was to come. We
receive his teaching through Holy Mother Church. That is what is the mystery
of the baptismal life. Once incorporated into the mystical
body of Christ, it is no other than our Lord
himself who teaches us. He teaches us by the instrumentation
of other peoples, but most especially, he
does so through the Eucharistic life. When we begin to receive him at the
age of reason, it is truly Christ who begins to teach us.
He begins to teach us through the faithful members of the mystical body
who hand on the doctrines untainted, and most especially, he
does so through the graces he communicates to us when we receive him
worthily in Holy Communion. And so, let us be thankful
for all the Lord has done. Let us become vessels of his
mercy, so that all may come to know and to love Jesus, the
divine teacher, the one whom John the Baptist had pointed to,
and the one whom we have received, and the one who truly takes
care of us and watches over us. And so, we truly are
greater than those of the old dispensations, because providence has
chosen us to work for him in the new dispensation. And so,
let us do the work while we have time.
Knowing that those who will follow us will take up the banner
of Christ, and our Lord will march until the end of time, striving
to bring his mercy to all souls, so that ultimately we may all
join the angels and saints, both those of the old and of the new
dispensation. We may join them all, praising him together
for all eternity in heaven.
Blessed would you be,
and understand what we have
to say for this special Sunday.