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Some
Pharisees were also sent [to John the Baptist]. They asked him, "Why
then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the
Prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water; but there is one
among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me,
whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie." This happened in Bethany
across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus
coming toward him and said, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the
sin of the world. He is the one."
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Placed
into a near impossible position by The Joker and by District Attorney
Harvey Dent who had turned into someone evil because of his
mental
pain, Batman had a choice to make. If he became the hero, the people
of Gotham City would not have the normal human leader they must have to
fight crime;
if he became the outcast, as his assistant Alfred tells him, then he
could continue to bring about good from a distance, even though people
may hate him initially. He made the choice, telling Lt. Gordon:
"You'll hunt me, you'll condemn me, because that's what needs to
happen." Sometimes the only way to bring about good for humankind is to
sacrifice what one personally wants. It is the highest act of a
good human being. The person really is the hero, but no one will know
it, and no one will ever find out.
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John the Baptist
could have had the recognition. He had made a name for himself already.
People were coming to him, calling him the Prophet, the one who was to
come, even the Messiah. Besides that, he was accomplishing great
things--people were turning from their former lives of sin, even
soldiers and those not interested in religion were beginning to
understand some deeper realities. He had a choice to
make. Should he allow his notoriety to continue and bring about even
more good, or should he announce the coming of the Messiah whom he
knew, sacrifice
everything that he had worked for, and allow that Messiah to have the
spotlight. The Gospel of John makes his choice evident.
Studying the fictional Batman and his choice at the end of the movie "The Dark Knight," and likewise studying the real person of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, one can see a human virtue that is not at all easy to emulate. Our human natures are fundamentally tuned into ourselves, and if we are accomplishing good things by our lives and actions, we like to think that we deserve some recognition, some justifiable pride in ourselves. After all, we are bringing about good things. But there is always a greater reality. Batman knew it as he chose to become the outcast; John the Baptist knew it as he pointed to the true Messiah. They were making a sacrifice that no one would ever know. It is what had to happen if a greater good was to be achieved. We are involved in the arena of life. Sometimes the arena can turn its spotlight on ourselves: we accomplish something great, we bring about something good, our names are in the headlines. One of the Christian virtues that we must learn is the virtue of humility. What is the greater good amidst all of the accolades? At all times, we must want that greater good, no matter what it will mean to our popularity. The saying of past years continues to hold: "There is no telling how much good can be accomplished if we don't care who gets the credit." |
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THOUGHT
What is your
understanding of the virtue of humility?
PRAYER Good
and gracious
God, you have blessed everyone of us with talents. We can accomplish
great things, but we also know that greater things can be brought about
if we work for a greater good and not for ourselves. Give us the grace
to always work for what you want. 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 |