Excerpt from Saints I Know (Sula): St. John the Baptist

 

St. John the Baptist

Early first Century A.D.

The town of San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist), where our Mission is located, was founded on the feast day of St. John the Baptist, June 24 (the reason that most of my books have been released on June 24), and named after him. Our Mission was founded on that day, too. In the beginning, the two were very connected.

St. John the Baptist is one of the best-known saints, even to non-Catholics. Even so, his exact birth dates are not known. He was born six months before Jesus, whose coming he foreshadowed, and was murdered in the last year of Jesus’s ministry, so we do know the approximate dates—the first 30 or so years of the first century. He was so young when he was killed, but for such a short life, he made a significant impact on the world. He influenced Christianity, Islam, and Baha’i—and perhaps other faiths.

Here is what most history books will say about him: He was a Jewish itinerant preacher in the early first century. He was born in Jerusalem and died in present-day Jordan. History has it that he is buried in the Umayyed Mosque in Damascus, Syria. At least, there is a place in the mosque where he is supposedly buried; my amanuensis has seen it.

John’s parents are almost as well known as he is, and they are described well in the Bible. His mother, Elizabeth, became pregnant very late in life, well beyond a time when she would have been considered capable of becoming pregnant. John’s father, Zachariah, served as a priest in the temple, and in the temple, the angel Gabriel told him Elizabeth would bear him a son.

John’s name was given to him by God. The angel who had told Zechariah about Elizabeth’s pregnancy also told him what to name the baby. When Zachariah doubted the angel and questioned him, Gabriel told him that his punishment for doubting God would be to lose his ability to speak until John was born. And that is exactly what happened!

According to Scripture, the grown-up John wore clothing made from camel hair (I think that was probably itchy), and he ate locusts (yuck) and wild honey (not bad). Clearly, like so many saints who came after him, St. John the Baptist was given to a life of austerity and putting God first, before any kind of physical comfort, possessions, or luxurious lifestyle.

St. John had a lot of followers who believed his messianic message. That made some of the religious leaders of the time very mad, but they did not kill him. How did John die? Quite gruesomely. Salome, the stepdaughter of Herod, ruler of Galilee and Perea at the time, danced for Herod and after finishing and being told she could have anything she desired, she said that she wanted the head of John the Baptist, imprisoned by her uncle, on a silver platter. That is how John died! And yes, Herod also ordered the execution of Jesus some time later.

While we can all aspire to become saints, we probably cannot aspire to be as great, as humble, as special as John. Unlike most saints, he really was larger than life while on earth. He was conceived with a special mission: to prepare the way for Jesus’s coming, and he did that superbly well, not only by preaching about Jesus’s coming but also by baptizing Jesus and others, including people others despised, such as tax collectors. Like Jesus and St. Paul, he also preached love. John was special because he was sent by God to “bear witness to the light (Jesus).” Now, really, that is quite special, isn’t it?

St. John the Baptist is claimed as patron saint by many places around the world. And my home is very specially named: St. John the Baptist (San Juan Bautista).

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