Solemnity of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist

These are words of admiration, wonder, and curiosity towards the newborn who came into the world through the marriage of Zechariah, a man of advanced age who could not wait for offspring. People knew there was something extraordinary here; something great was about to happen. What will he bring? How old will the boy be?

When John had already made himself known to Israel by profound repentance, preaching strong sermons, calls for repentance and conversion, and administering the baptism of repentance in the Jordan, he received the greatest, authoritative appreciation from the Son of God himself: “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist. But he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Mt 11:11). This is the Divine evaluation, the Divine reward, the Divine judgment.

And here the question arises: why was John the Baptist, so highly esteemed by our Lord, not chosen as the head of Christ’s Church? Shouldn’t such an exceptional man have been the first pope, Cephas—the rock on which His Church was to be built? We can only guess why Jesus selected the timid, initially misunderstanding God’s ways, and even severely admonished and rebuked fisherman Simon instead of John the Baptist, the son of a priest. For the noble service of the apostle of the nascent Church and the author of one of the Gospels, a disciple of John the Baptist was chosen—St. John, the son of Zebedee. It was not John the Baptist but his disciple John who heard, “Follow me.” Not the greatest of those born of women, not St. John, the son of Zebedee – the “beloved disciple,” or not Judas Thaddeus, a relative of the Lord Jesus, was Cephas, but Simon Peter, who became the visible head of the nascent Church. We could say, “This appointment is a strange decision of Jesus of Nazareth. However, with humility and obedience of faith, we accept it.

We can find the answer to our unrest and astonishment in the teaching of St. Paul: “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong; God chose the base things of the world and the despised things of the world, yes, the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, so that no one might boast before God… (1 Cor 1:27-29).

God acts in this way so that it is obvious—He saves; the work of redemption is done by His grace and not by wisdom, skill, or human work. This is so that we do not fall into pride. And the Lord Himself gives us the answer to our doubts: “We are unprofitable servants.” From this pedagogy of Jesus, God’s pedagogy, we can learn that it is not always the exceptional, the most capable, or the best who are endowed with power in the Church and even the highest offices, but rather persons who, according to our perception, are irresponsible.

This passage is a kind of light for the offended, the dissatisfied, and the angry. In those decisions of the Lord Jesus, the wisdom and the logic of the cross are hidden. The cross was an offense for some and foolishness for others, yet it revealed itself as wisdom, victory, and the power of God. Isn’t the continuation of the Church, despite persecutions and despite so many offenses committed by people in the Church, often vain shepherds; its development, leading to heaven of other generations; and educating new hosts of saints, a demonstration that it is He, the Son of God, who saves and leads, and not us?

May St. John the Baptist, whom we venerate today, that exceptional man so appreciated by the Lord Jesus, help some of the vain people of the Church who are offended today to overcome their problems. And those who are great, even in the opinion of those around them and competent people, but are bypassed, without offices and power in the Church, may be helped to overcome divisions, disappointments, or even bitterness. May the awareness that, as at the beginning of the Church, so throughout all ages and today, our Lord uses the same pedagogy in calling people to his Church and endows them with ministries be with you.