Listen to A Voice in
the Desert
(See Lk 3:1-6)
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
This
Sunday’s Gospel story tells us how Saint John the Baptist fulfilled his task of
the forerunner who prepares the way for Christ.
Yes, before the coming of the Savior, the holy man was sent to preach
repentance to the people and encourage them to receive the rite of cleansing of
their sins in the river of Jordan. Many
people did come to listen to Saint John’s preaching.
Sacred Scriptures,
however, introduce Saint John as “a voice of one crying out in the desert.”
What does
this phrase “a voice of one crying out in the desert” really mean? Does this mean that Saint John’s voice was not
strong enough to reach his audience’s ears?
Or, does this simply tell us the sad reality that his message of
repentance fell into deaf ears?
We need to
take note of the background for Saint John’s preaching mission. It did not happen in big and crowded cities
but “in
the desert.”
A desert
emerges in our mind as a place without, or almost no, sign of life for lack of
basic commodities such as water, food and the like. In the biblical context, “desert” mainly
means a land where only wild beasts survive and a favorite venue for the forces
of evil to operate.
In this
sense, we can find a desert wherever human dignity and human rights are
violated, freedom of speech suppressed, and, in the first place, freedom of
religion compromised.
So, “a
voice of one crying out in the desert” reveals to us the difficult
circumstances that Saint John had to confront in his mission of preaching the
message of repentance. People, those in
power in particular, are not willing to hear somebody accusing them of their
wrongdoings. Their reactions sometimes
turn too violent that cause the death of the prophets. This has proved to be true every time and
everywhere.
On the other
hand, “a voice of one crying out in the desert” also acknowledges the
truth that Saint John’s message of repentance can hardly find its way into
people’s hearts which have become insensitive to matters of moral values. Those who want to promote human and religious
values find themselves so lonely and even powerless that they have been reduced
into “a voice of one crying out in the desert.”
But, as we
have already seen how necessary it was for those who wished to be saved at the
first coming of Christ by listening to Saint John the Baptist’s message of
repentance, we also take into serious consideration our listening to the
message of repentance preached by the Church to prepare for the second coming
in glory of Christ, our Lord and Savior.
The message
of conversion of the Church could become “a voice of one crying out in the desert”
in this time of many and different forms of crisis when, in the words of Saint
Paul, “people will not tolerate sound
doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will
accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted
to myths.” [1]
And we, as
members of the Church that is of its nature missionary should not give up our
mission of preaching repentance to the world torn by violations of human
dignity and human rights, by suppression of basic living conditions, and by the
most harmful of all evil doings, the removal of God’s presence from our
society.
Again Saint
Paul has something to tell us: “I charge
you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and
the dead, and by His appearing and His kingly power: proclaim the word; be
persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand,
encourage through all patience and teaching.” [2]
This is
simply because we do know how it is essential and necessary for our salvation,
that “voice of one crying out in the desert”.
Fr. Francis Nguyen, O.P.
