Saints Peter and Paul are the two greatest pillars of the Church. Their lives are very different, and this helps us understand from a divine perspective how it takes all kinds – not only of people but also of leaders – to build up the Church. The message of Christ appeals way beyond any narrow segment of humanity, culture, or way of life. We need leaders that lead in very different ways. Let us meditate on the lives of Saints Peter and Paul to grasp how their different styles of leadership bore witness to the Gospel.
Birth of John the Baptist
John the Baptist’s birth heralds the end of the Old Covenant and the beginning of the New. Those who were full of speech and of words will become silent. Those Pharisees and Scribes, the teachers of the Law, they will all become silent and mute as the Voice begins to speak. John the Baptist is the Voice, and his birth gives voice to those who who had lost hope. Zechariah’s first word after his long silence is “John.” This name means “Yahweh’s graciousness.” Zechariah’s silence of hopelessness is finally broken when he speaks over his son the grace of God. His tongue is untied only to speak God’s grace into the life of his son. God has commanded him to name his son John, and in doing so He liberates Zechariah from the silence induced by his hopelessness and lack of trust.
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
The unique story Jesus tells about the seed that grows in secret is an important reminder about how growth in virtue and holiness are essentially caused by grace. We can be under the illusion that our becoming holier or better people is somehow up to us. Sometimes we priests even hear in confession, “I haven’t been the best version of myself.” I would like to tell those people, for one, that it isn’t up to them how and when they become the best version of themselves. Second, I would like them to know that only God knows what we will become – so we couldn’t possibly know what the best version of ourselves looks like. “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall later be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” Grace is not something that we can either control or muster by our willing or trying. Grace does its own work just like the life and growth of a plant: all is contained within the seed, we can help make sure the conditions are present for growth to happen, but that growth happens from a vital cause hidden within the seed.