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Now
the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their
hearts whether John might be the Messiah. John answered them all,
saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I
is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his
sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and
fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing
floor and to
gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with
unquenchable fire.” Exhorting them in many other ways, he
preached good news to the people. Now Herod the tetrarch, who had
been censured by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and
because of all the evil deeds Herod had committed, added still another
to these by also putting John in prison.
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What
makes us who we are? Much has been written about our upbringing,
and how important parents are. There is no denying that our past,
especially our young past, has an effect on the way we think and
act. But we grow up. There comes a time in our lives in
which “we choose who we are.” Realizing the importance of
our mature approach to the rest of our lives, we cannot blame anyone
else for who we are. We choose. Or as Professor Albus
Dumbledore
tells Harry Potter during this final session of the movie “Harry
Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” “It is not our
abilities that show what we truly are; it is our choices.”
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John
the Baptist made a number of choices as he began his ministry of
calling the people of Israel to repentance. He chose to be very
unorthodox in his approach to preaching. He chose to call
attention to someone more important than he was. And in his preaching,
he chose to “take on” the Roman tetrarch, Herod, calling
attention to what Herod should and should not have been
doing. His choices determined his life.
As we watch teenager Harry Potter choose good rather than evil, as we watch him use his abilities to help people rather than harm them, indeed as we study his choices throughout his whole life, we have to be struck by his power. With that power, he could have chosen any direction he wanted. He chose the good. In our approach to our future lives, we may not have the magical abilities that Harry Potter and the people of the school of magic at Hogwarts had, but we have power. We have the abilities to do almost anything we want in our world. Given the education, technology, and advantages that we have at our disposal, we have the capability of being people who can do anything we want. We can easily see what dedicated people can do. But it is not anyone’s ability that ultimately defines who we are. It is the choices we make. Our choice should be for the good. Our choice should be the Christian choice--to choose good as a follower of Jesus Christ. |
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THOUGHT
In general, what are the most important
choices that people make in their lives?
PRAYER Good
and gracious God, we have strong examples of people, Christian and
otherwise, who have made choices to follow good in their lives,
often having to pay a difficult price for the choice. Help us
choose the
good, no matter what the cost might be. Be with us, we pray.
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©2007
Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America |
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