Let’s follow the advice of St. John the Baptist

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

EVEN while in prison, St. John the Baptist told his disciples to go to Christ to see if Christ indeed was the expected messiah. (cfr. Mt 11,2-11) Obviously, St. John knew about who Christ really was. He just wanted to let his disciples to know Christ and to follow him.

Christ, for his part, told John’s disciples about what he had done so far, if only to give some evidence about who he really was. “Go and tell John what you hear and see,” he said. “The blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”

After which, Christ gave a most wonderful praise for John. “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he,” thereby also affirming the superiority of those already in heaven over those who are still on earth, even if the latter are already very holy.

The lesson to learn here is for us to always look for Christ and to make him the center of our life. We should be clear about what we are after in this life. Is it just to spend time and see what is going to happen? Are we just totally dependent on chance or on luck? Or are we only interested in some fame, wealth, power, pleasure?

We cannot deny the obvious fact that many people nowadays are not quite clear as to their purpose in life. And those who seem to have some idea about it, have it wrong, since their idea of purpose is simply time-and-earth-bound. There’s hardly anything transcendent about it.

Some may leave a worthwhile legacy beyond their death, but again it is something that can only fade in time. It cannot stand the test of forever!

We should always be curious about Christ and follow him. We should always look for him, for he is “the way, the truth and the life” for us. We cannot go to the Father (God), we cannot attain the eternal life proper to us, without him.

That is also why Christ himself said that we seek first the kingdom of God, and not to worry so much about our temporal and worldly needs, because all these will also be provided by him as long as we look for Christ first.

This looking for Christ should be our basic attitude that should guide us daily and give shape to that day. Our life should be characterized by an attitude of looking forward, of watching and expecting, clarifying and pursuing our intentions, and being ever hopeful.

We need to develop the instinct of always looking for Christ, making him alive in our life and patterning our life after his. This business of always looking for Christ is a basic duty of ours, a grave responsibility, in fact. Without him, we would just be on our own, relying simply on our own lights and powers that, no matter how excellent, can never accomplish our real ultimate need of our own salvation, our own perfection as a person and as a child of God.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com