Just a few short weeks ago we celebrated the Baptism of the Lord and followed it up with two GIFT sessions (open Faith Formation sessions for people of all ages) about the sacrament of Baptism. Then, in last Sunday’s Gospel, we heard again how John the Baptist pointed people to Jesus. The Gospel today speaks of John once more, so we can be absolutely certain that he was an important person and there is something we are meant to learn from him. But what is it?
“Yalla!”
No, it’s not a word you can find in your Bible, but it has been expressed by every prophet throughout the ages, every disciple who has ever followed Jesus, and all of the pilgrims who recently travelled to the Holy Land. Alex, our tour guide, used it often. “Yalla!” he said every time we got off the bus. “Yalla!” every time we moved from one site to the next. “Yalla!” “Let’s go!”
This simple expression conveyed to us that we were on the move, all together, heading in the same direction. With one heart and one mind we followed where Alex led, leaving no one behind. We trusted his guidance, we marveled at what was revealed to us, and we were richly blessed. “Yalla!” is the message John the Baptist has for us. By our baptism we have been united as a family with a mission. It is our Christian duty to live our lives in a way that point others to Jesus. Let’s go!
On our last day in the Holy Land we had the wonderful opportunity to go to Ein Kerem, the birthplace of John the Baptist. In his homily at Mass there, Fr. Fisette told us that our pilgrimage would not end when we boarded the plane later in the day to come home. “Our job is to bring our experience to others, and show them the way to Jesus as John the Baptist did,” he said.
Whether or not you have visited the Holy Land, this is a message we can all embrace and live.
It’s the perfect message for a parish on the move from maintenance to mission.
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