All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
—What, then, will this child be?—
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.

Faith! Faith is about our lives and what we do with them.

As we come to the end of the month of June, a month dedicated to Sacred Vocations, it is wise to stop and consider life, and our choice of vocation, in light of St. John the Baptist’s example.

Isaiah sets the tone:

The LORD called me from birth,
from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.

As Catholic Christians we are about life. We know that the Lord creates life. We joyfully cooperate in the creative act, and we ponder the mystery of it all.

How and why is life given? What is the particular moment at which life is given? Once given, why is there suffering and pain?

Frankly, any answer that exists apart from faith is lacking.

Can we fathom the depths of God’s wisdom? Can we answer all the questions? Can we, in our weakness, even grasp the answers to the questions that wend their way through our lives?

God pointedly told Job:

Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

God’s majesty is beyond our comprehension and His ways are far beyond our ways. The questions we ask and the answers we seek are meaningless groaning.

Yet, Isaiah found hope in God’s promise to Israel:

Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
yet my reward is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God.

Jesus came as the fulfillment of God’s promise; as we are knit together in our mother’s womb, so too Jesus was knit together in Mary’s womb. As Paul points out:

From [David’s] descendants God, according to his promise,
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.

Jesus took on human life and human form, and by doing so showed us the awesome respect and dignity with which we must hold every human life.

He gave us all the answers we need.

Life is valuable. Carrying out the Father’s will is our call. Suffering, when it comes, holds salvific power.

John came to us, the forerunner of the Christ. He came to do God’s will. He came, not as an angel, but as a man, also knit together in Elizabeth’s womb. He came to suffer as well.

In light of what he knew, he suffered for seeing Israel’s corruption. In light of what he knew, he allowed himself to be subjected to ridicule, insults, arrest, and ultimately martyrdom.

His life, and his choice of God’s way holds immense value for all of humanity.

The Gospel closes with two lines.

The first:

—What, then, will this child be?—

In hindsight we know the answer to the question that haunted the hill country of Judea. He shall be the forerunner of the Messiah.

The second:

For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.

The hand of the Lord was with John because he chose to do the Father’s will.

That, my friends, is the question the Holy Church asks you. Will you do the Father’s will? Will you allow us to teach you, to show you the way to best accomplish the Father’s will?

Look around you my friends. In Iraq, our Christian brothers and sisters have the hand of the Lord upon them. Christian women are being raped. Young Christian men are being tortured and killed. The old are being held for ransom and are later made refugees, with no home to return to. All for Christ.

In North Korea and China Christians are being tortured and killed, for the name of Christ.

In this country speaking out as a Christian subjects one to derisive laughter. You are scorned because you will not allow the killing of children, the mentally ill, or the old. You believe in things like sin and God’s promise of salvation from sin through repentance and conversion of life.

Brothers and sisters,

The hand of the Lord is upon you. You need only recognize the call you have received. It is a call to conversion of heart. It is a call to build God’s kingdom. It is the call to bring all to Jesus Christ.

To our young men, and men on their second or third careers, the hand of the Lord is upon you. You are being called to serve, to proclaim the Kingdom of God, as John did. To baptize, claiming all who come, as members of Jesus’ body, His Holy Church.

Being a Catholic Christian, certainly the questions will persist, but the answers are here and they are true.

On this Solemnity ponder the third to last line of the Gospel:

All who heard these things took them to heart.

Allow St. John’s proclamation to reach you. Go, and do as he did. Leap for joy, for the Christ is among us.