In every great story and drama there is the hero or the heroine, the central character around whom the whole saga unfolds. However, we should never underestimate the supporting cast. They provide the setting and backdrop against which we are able to see the importance of the central character. In other words, to be able to understand the central character we need to be able to see him or her in relationship with others; we need to be able to understand the context in which they play out their parts.
To understand the drama of the Gospel we need to remember that the evangelists and indeed all of the New Testament authors were very conscious of the drama of human history and the central role of Jesus of Nazareth. They are all masters of presenting the drama so that we don’t miss the connections with all those who had gone before him and with all those with whom he interacted. There is something very appealing about the character of John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus. He is presented like the warm-up artist who prepares the way for the star of a show, or the pacesetter who ensures that the top runner is able to run a race to perfection and break a record. But of course John the Baptist is much more than that. He is actually the vital link between the Old and the New Testaments. He is the last of the great prophets of old and the first of the new. In listening to the first reading for this weekend from Isaiah, we are invited to apply this vision of the prophet to John. Zechariah, his father, had been told his name before he was born, and this was the child who had leapt for joy in the womb at the time of the Visitation. But of course the words of Isaiah are applied equally to Jesus himself, whose name was also foretold before his birth. And therein lies the fascination of the Gospel message! John is caught up not just in the drama of Jesus, but literally in the very person of Jesus. He prepared the way, and as Paul says in this weekend’s second reading from Acts, “he proclaimed a baptism of repentance,” but he was not the one who brought the actual salvation. In the end, it was the saving baptism of Jesus that would save John just as it will save all of us who respond to his call! The message is as clear for us in the third Christian millennium as it was for John the Baptist’s disciples in the first. Now, there is only one leader whom we must follow. We are all called to be disciples of Jesus. We are all a part of his supporting cast. The wonderful thing is that the words which can be applied to Jesus and John the Baptist can also be applied to you and me. We too were known by God in the womb! We too can prepare a way for the Lord in our time and place! Indeed, the mission of the Church is precisely that we be the light of the nations so that God’s salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. This is truly a great feast! Apart from the birthdays of Jesus and Mary, it is the only birthday celebrated in the Church’s liturgical calendar. This is truly a day when we can all give thanks to God that we have been born to share in this great human and divine drama!