Through Saint John the Baptist we come to encounter the virtue of humility. He realized that one greater then he was to come and he was okay with stepping aside in order to make way for His coming. To this Sacred Scripture attests to us: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” With this wisdom and sense of humility he goes on to state within our Gospel: “A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.” Through all that Saint John the Baptist preaches and teaches we can see that he was always willing to humble himself to the truth that exists before him.
In our world we sometimes have a problem humbling ourself to truth or to the authority of another. Nevertheless, truth does exist within this world. Towards truth we are called and to this truth we are to be humbled. This truth of which I speak is that of Christ our Lord. This truth is present within the Church and her teachings. This truth does not rely upon popular opinion, but solely upon the fact that it represents Christ and what He handed onto the apostles who through their authority shape where we find ourself in this current age.
I must agree that sadly a select few priests and even bishops have abandoned this path. Through their abandoning of truth they have led the Church to suffer in confusion of church teaching and morality. They have left others in despair as they have left the Church due to their incompetence of leadership and morality as they prowl upon the vulnerable. This makes me think of Saint John Christendom who stated: “The road to hell is paved with the skull of erring priests, with bishops as their signposts.” Despite these actions of a select few we cannot allow them to overshadow Christ and what He has left us.
I must admit that at times it may seem that all hope is lost. To this I am reminded that Christ is our light. It is towards Christ that we must set our gaze. Therefore, it matters not the priest who has been set before us for our sight is to be set upon Christ. No matter the priest, his sinfulness, or lack of favor with us his hands have been consecrated and when at the Holy Mass represents Christ on this earth. If we ever allow ourself to take our sight off of him or become more important then He we are in error. Christ must be our light for He was the light of Saint John the Baptist to whose way he prepared the path.
