From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   June 24th - St. John the Baptist   
      
   It would be interesting to analyze the aspects of St. John the Baptist's   
   life   
   that characterize him as a perfect Apostle of the Last Times, as described   
   by   
   St. Louis Grignion de Monfort. Not because his times were the last times,   
   but   
   because they were the last times of that era.   
      
   St. John the Baptist was the person sent by God to lay straight the way of   
   the   
   Lord, to prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ, to act in the last times   
   before   
   the Messiah. The Apostle of the Last Times also must prepare for the coming   
   of   
   Our Lord; he will also have to act in the last times before the second   
   coming of   
   the Messiah. There is a parallel between these two men, just as there is a   
   parallel between the first and the second coming of the Messiah.   
      
   The parallel between the time of Christ and the last times is very clear in   
   the   
   Gospel when Our Lord spoke about the fall of the Temple of Jerusalem from   
   two   
   different perspectives. First He spoke about the material destruction of the   
   Temple of Jerusalem, a prophecy that was fulfilled historically by Titus in   
   the   
   year 70. He also spoke of the destruction of the Temple from a symbolic   
   perspective, referring to the end of world, of which the Temple was a   
   symbol.   
      
   There are two destructions of the Temple, two comings of Our Lord, two men   
   sent   
   by God to prepare the way of the Lord. The first was St. John the Baptist   
   and   
   the last will be Elias, the Prophet. These two men are the models, the   
   paradigms, the prototypes of the Apostles of the Last Times.   
      
   In one part of the Fiery Prayer by St. Louis Grignion de Monfort, he   
   describes   
   the Apostles of the Last Times, pointing to those men who will live in a   
   tragic   
   situation: "Ah, let me cry out everywhere: Fire! Fire! Fire! Help! Help!   
   Help!   
   Fire even within the sanctuary!"   
      
   The same kind of warning was given by St. John the Baptist, a prophet who   
   pictured the moral situation of his time as extremely bad. He did not fear   
   to   
   tell the truth to the Scribes and Pharisees. He was not afraid to censure   
   the   
   Jewish people for the moral decadence into which they had fallen. He did not   
   tremble to spell out to Herod the evil he had done - and this would be the   
   cause   
   of his death.   
      
   St. John the Baptist was a man who accomplished his duty of telling the   
   truth   
   about the situation in which he lived, the entire truth, completely,   
   fearlessly,   
   even to his death.   
      
   Also worth of note is the polemic character of the mission. The Apostles   
   described in the Fiery Prayer are fighting men, men of the polemic. During   
   his   
   whole life St. John the Baptist was also a polemicist. His life was but one   
   long   
   polemic to prepare the way of Our Lord.   
      
   In a parallel way, one can consider how his mission was well grounded in   
   reality. St. John the Baptist fully measured the defects of men. He had a   
   complete understanding of the effects of original sin. This is why he was   
   always   
   warning people about those defects and inviting them to penitence and to   
   change   
   their lives. Metanoia is the Greek word that means a total conversion, a   
   complete changing of one's life; it summarizes well the goal of St. John the   
   Baptist's preaching. When one reads St. Louis de Monfort describing man as   
   vainer than toads, more ferocious than tigers, falser than serpents, and so   
   on,   
   one hears something of the preaching of the Apostles of the Last Times, and   
   also   
   the preaching of St. John the Baptist.   
      
   The humility of the Apostles of the Last Times described by St. Louis in the   
   Fiery Prayer can also be compared with the extreme humility of St. John the   
   Baptist. He had that wonderful saying: "There cometh after me, one mightier   
   than   
   I, the latchet of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and loose,"   
   referring to Our Lord. And also this one: "He must increase, but I must   
   decrease."   
      
   His mission was to announce the Messiah. Therefore, once the Lamb of God had   
   arrived, the prophecy of St. John Baptist was fulfilled, and his public   
   mission   
   decreased as he headed toward his martyrdom. On the contrary, Our Lord would   
   increase until the complete fulfillment of His divine mission. The humility   
   of   
   St. John the Baptist was rewarded. After his martyrdom, his name was covered   
   with glory. Our Lord said that no man born from woman was greater than he.   
   It is   
   impossible to have a higher praise or more honorable glorification. But this   
   glory had as its foundation his most profound humility. Also, the humility   
   of   
   the Apostles of the Last Times will be rewarded, since the men who will   
   fight   
   the last battle against the Antichrist will be considered so great that Our   
   Lord   
   will permit them to pass directly to Heaven, without experiencing death.   
      
   In these points, therefore, one can see a parallel between the mission of   
   St.   
   John the Baptist and the Apostles of the Last Times, namely Elias, the   
   greatest   
   of them. You could ask me: Where is the devotion of St. John Baptist to   
   Mary?   
   What place did Our Lady have in his preaching?   
      
   Only later would Our Lady become manifest to the piety of the faithful. Her   
   action in the Church intensified only after Our Lord ascended to Heaven and   
   left   
   her here to influence the destiny of the Church. The mission of St. John   
   Baptist   
   was not to preach directly about Our Lady. But in his life, there was an   
   important event. When Our Lady went to visit St. Elizabeth, he had the great   
   fortune to hear the voice of Our Lady and feel a joy from within the womb of   
   St.   
   Elizabeth. The latter, after hearing the salutation of Mary, told her that   
   her   
   infant had leaped with joy in her womb. He was, therefore, a soul intensely   
   turned toward Mary. Hearing her voice, he understood her, loved her and   
   leaped   
   with joy.   
      
   There is a solid tradition in the Church that says St. John Baptist was   
   purified   
   of original sin shortly after he was conceived, while still in the womb of   
   St.   
   Elizabeth. So, this episode of the Gospel referring to the child in the womb   
   hearing Our Lady's voice, understanding her words and loving her is   
   completely   
   creditable.   
      
   It is probable that as a relative of Our Lady, St. Elizabeth would have gone   
   to   
   visit her many times, bringing her child along with her. Also, after the   
   death   
   of St. Elizabeth, it is probable that St. John Baptist would often have   
   visited   
   Jesus and Mary.   
      
   Then, it is also probable that every time he heard the voice of Our Lady, he   
   would have experienced the same joy he felt the first time. It would be a   
   continuation of that same exultation. It is probable that he never forgot   
   that   
   elation and that it always remained in his soul as a kind of permanent   
   consolation.   
      
   Let us venerate St. John Baptist as a model of the perfect devotee of Our   
   Lady,   
   as a model of the Apostles of the Last Times, and as a man of fight. Let us   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)