John the Baptist: bridging the Old and New Testaments

By Heidi

June 24 is the Solemnity of The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist.  Today we celebrate the birth of the man who, as Saint Augustine tells us, “represents the boundaries between the two testaments, the old and the new.”  All of the events surrounding the birth of the Baptist suggest that the obscurity of the Old Testament prophesies are to be revealed and illuminated by the one who John is to proclaim, who John had already been proclaiming as he leaped in the womb of his mother Elizabeth at Mary’s arrival.  Leaping like David dancing before the Ark of the Covenant.  Even from the womb John points us past the signs to the ultimate realities.  This is why we celebrate his birth with a Solemnity!

John points us out of the wilderness, out of confusion, to the fulfillment of the words of Isaiah, Hosea, Jeremiah and the prophets.  Words that often were mysterious, and attain their deepest meaning only in the light of Christ’s salvific mission.  And us too, he points us past the mundane to Jesus, in whose light even the most obscure life is elevated and glorified.

Of course evil hates clarity and light.  The enemy of your soul will always try to confuse your vocation, obscure your accomplishments and highlight your failings. Even John the Baptist experienced moments of confusion and doubt as he faced down evil in his martyrdom (Matthew 11:2).  From his place of imprisonment John lived out what he had been preaching to all who would listen:   He turned to the Lord; he asked Him for reassurance and in the Lord’s response he was satisfied.  Even in his doubt he fulfilled his mission which is so beautifully portrayed in so many paintings;  in sending his messengers to Jesus, John was pointing to Him and showing us all the way out of our own confusion and self-doubt.


Continue reading at Journey to Wisdom.

A heart that prays

By Beryl Baterina

Painting by Carpaccio (Wikipedia).

 

We, humans cannot be contented with what we have.  We have this unending desire to seek for more.  We want to aim higher and higher.  Well, there is nothing wrong with that.  In fact, it is good that we have goals to keep pushing ourselves.  And we pray to God to grant us our desires.  We pray that we may be able to land at this job, to pass this test, to be like this and that, and many other more.  There are times when we demand of God, "You said, 'Ask and you will receive.'We have faith but You did not answer our prayers."  That can be a factor why there are many people who do not have faith in God anymore.  They were devastated with the "broken promises" of God.

But it should not be the case.  "You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly."  God answers our prayers in a way that is best for us.  We must not be mad at God thinking that He is not really answering our prayers.  We must not turn our backs  from prayers because of this.  We must reflect on how we pray to God.  Do we pray just for the compliance of praying?  Or do we pray with our hearts open and complete surrender before the Lord?  Do we pray like, "Lord, give me this, I should be like that..." or anything similar to that?  Or do we pray like, "Lord, I am not worthy that I should be asking this.  But if it is Your will, I will really be grateful.  I ask You O Lord to please..." and other prayers like that?

Let us try to recall how we prayed when we were still kids.  But if it is too hard to remember, let us ask children how they pray.  Maybe we can reflect on their answers.  Maybe we will also be able to remember how we prayed when we were younger.  Or better yet, we will remember how God answered our prayers from when we were still kids until we grew older.

We must not cease in our prayer life.  We should continue to be humble and keep our faith as we ask for God's grace.

 Beryl originally wrote this post at Beryl Baterina: Daily Dose.

The scandal of Christ's wounds

By Pat Knight

Doubting Thomas by Caravaggio (Wikimedia Commons)

Last weekend during his sermon at the canonization of John XXIII and John Paul II, Pope Francis talked about Christ in His resurrected form. “The wounds of Jesus are a scandal, a stumbling block for faith, yet they are also the test of faith.”

These words have echoed in my head since Divine Mercy  +Sunday, as they strike so true. Christ’s wounds do cause doubt in me; how could God Himself have been injured? How could He have allowed Himself to die? Does He have limitations? Having doubt is unfortunately inevitable for a Catholic.

Even the apostles who walked, saw, and knew Jesus felt doubt. St. Thomas refused to believe in the resurrection unless he saw it for himself, Peter denied Christ three times. Losing faith doesn’t have to be an extreme. We don’t have to wake up every morning and question the existence of God to have doubt.

We have doubt whenever we worry, whenever we forget to rely completely on His will. Peter doubted when he lost trust in Jesus and fell into the water, instead of continuing to walk. It’s hard a lot of the time not to worry, but we can’t. God loves us so much that He died for us.


Pat Knight is a contributing blogger to Love is Calling.