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<center>[[File:2021-10-10 site of Michael's Baptism pano w- DJ.jpg|none|thumb|850x850px|<small>An industrial stream in lower central Pennsylvania: the site of Michael's baptism, October 10, 2021.</small>]]</center>[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/1?6 John 1:6-7] tells it straight: <blockquote>A man named John was sent from God.
<center>[[File:2021-10-10 site of Michael's Baptism pano w- DJ.jpg|none|thumb|850x850px|<small>An industrial stream in lower central Pennsylvania: the site of Michael's baptism, October 10, 2021.</small>]]</center>[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/1?6 John 1:6-7] tells it straight up: <blockquote>A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light<ref>Christ (from verse 4 "this life was the light of the human race")</ref></blockquote>This was most confusing to the pharisees, who, John tells us, couldn't get their heads around the idea that John was baptizing people yet denied that he was the Messiah.<ref>[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/1?25 Jn 1:25]</ref>


He came for testimony, to testify to the light [Christ]</blockquote>This was most confusing to the pharisees, who, John tells us, couldn't get their heads around the idea that John was baptizing people, yet denied that he was the Messiah.<ref>[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/1?25 Jn 1:25]</ref>
Still, we ourselves, it seems, are mystified by John the Baptist, as well.
 
Yet, we ourselves, it seems, are mystified by John the Baptist, as well.
[[File:Mattia_Preti_-_San_Giovanni_Battista_Predicazione.jpg|border|thumb|<small>St. John the Baptist Preaching, c. 1665, by Mattia Preti (wikipedia)</small>]]
[[File:Mattia_Preti_-_San_Giovanni_Battista_Predicazione.jpg|border|thumb|<small>St. John the Baptist Preaching, c. 1665, by Mattia Preti (wikipedia)</small>]]


= "God is Grace" =
= "God is Grace" =
<blockquote>“Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John"<ref>[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/1?13 Lk 1:13]</ref></blockquote>"John" in Hebrew is "Yohanan," which means "God is [has been] gracious."<ref>See [https://netbible.org/bible/Luke+1 Constable's notes in Luke 1:13]</ref>
<blockquote>“Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John"<ref>[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/1?13 Lk 1:13]</ref></blockquote>"John" in Hebrew is "Yohanan," which means "God is gracious."<ref>Or "has been". See [https://netbible.org/bible/Luke+1 Constable's notes in Luke 1:13]</ref>
 
Except for the senses of ''favored''<ref>The archangel Gabriel uses the word "favor", which we recite in the Rosary as "grace," when tells Mary ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/1:30 Lk 1:30]),


Except for the senses of ''favor/ favored, dignify/ dignified, or honor/ honored'', you won't find the Christian sense of the word "grace" as "participation in the life of God<ref>See [https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/484/ CCC 1997]</ref>" in the Old Testament. So when the angel told Zechariah to name his child "John,"<ref>[[Lk 1:13]]</ref> his understanding would be that he should be grateful to God for the child, which came to him of God's "graciousness" or generosity in response to his prayers for a son.<ref>The English "grace" comes of the PIE root '''*gwere-''' for "to favor" and from which we get words like "agree," "congratulate," "gracious", "grateful," gratitude," etc. (or in the negative sense, "ingrate" and "ungrateful").</ref>
<nowiki><blockquote>Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.</blockquote></nowiki></ref>'', dignified, or honored'', you won't find the Christian sense of the word "grace" as "participation in the life of God<ref>See [https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/484/ CCC 1997]</ref>" in the Old Testament. So when the angel told Zechariah to name his child "John,"<ref>[[Lk 1:13]]</ref> his understanding would be that he should be grateful to God for the child, which came to him of God's "graciousness," or generosity, in response to his prayers for a son.<ref>The English "grace" comes of the PIE root '''*gwere-''' for "to favor" and from which we get words like "agree," "congratulate," "gracious", "grateful," gratitude," etc. (or in the negative sense, "ingrate" and "ungrateful").</ref>


God always has larger plans: grace in the Christian sense is gift-wrapped for us in baptism. From the Catechism<ref>[https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/486/ CCC 1999]</ref> )<blockquote>
Grace in the Christian sense is gift-wrapped for us in baptism. From the Catechism<ref>[https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/486/ CCC 1999]</ref>:<blockquote>
The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it. It is the ''sanctifying'' or ''deifying grace'' received in Baptism. It is in us the source of the work of sanctification:
The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it. It is the ''sanctifying'' or ''deifying grace'' received in Baptism. It is in us the source of the work of sanctification:


''Therefore if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.''<ref>From [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2corinthians/5:17 2 Cor 5:17-18]</ref></blockquote>
''Therefore if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.''<ref>From [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2corinthians/5:17 2 Cor 5:17-18]</ref></blockquote>
The entire point of the Christian baptism, then is "God is grace," or, more simply, ''Yohanan''. And, like John the Baptist, who announced the Christ, Baptism itself is, according to the Catechism<ref>[https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/314/ CCC 1213]</ref>,  <blockquote>... the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit ''(vitae spiritualis ianua)'', and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. </blockquote>
The entire point of the Christian baptism, then is "God is grace," or, more simply, ''Yohanan''. And, like John the Baptist, who announced the Christ, Baptism itself is, according to the Catechism<ref>[https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/314/ CCC 1213]</ref>,  <blockquote>the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit ''(vitae spiritualis ianua)'', and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. </blockquote>


== The Baptizer ==
== The Baptizer ==
I like to call him "the Baptizer." Interestingly, in some Orthodox churches, he is known as "John the Forerunner," which speaks to his Biblical role. However, "God is grace" speaks most clearly to his Biblical purpose, which we pray on during Easter Sunday Mass:<blockquote>Father, you give us grace through sacramental signs,
I like to call Saint John simply, "the Baptizer." Interestingly, in some Orthodox churches, he is known as "John the Forerunner," which speaks to his Biblical role to testify, or announce the Christ. However, "God is grace" speaks most clearly to his Biblical purpose, such as we pray on during Easter Sunday Mass:<blockquote>Father, you give us grace through sacramental signs,


which tell us of the wonders of your unseen power.
which tell us of the wonders of your unseen power.
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of the grace you give us in this sacrament.<ref>From the Roman Missal, as per [[Father, you give us grace through sacramental signs, which tell us of the wonders of your unseen power. In Baptism we use your gift of water, which you have made a rich symbol of the grace you give us in this sacrament.|CCC 1217]]</ref></blockquote>
of the grace you give us in this sacrament.<ref>From the Roman Missal, as per [[Father, you give us grace through sacramental signs, which tell us of the wonders of your unseen power. In Baptism we use your gift of water, which you have made a rich symbol of the grace you give us in this sacrament.|CCC 1217]]</ref></blockquote>


 
But if we listen to Jesus himself, there's a lot more to John than than just, as most western believers think, of John only in terms of the baptism.  
Most western believers think of John only in terms of the Baptism of Christ, but if we listen to Jesus himself, there's a lot more to John than than that to which we usually attest about him.


== Why was John the Baptist necessary? ==
== Why was John the Baptist necessary? ==


One historical approach we can employ here is to apply a counter-factual, in this case, removal of John from the moment in order to test alternative outcomes. Obviously, God does what God does. Nevertheless, by thinking over the contingency of John's absence, we can better grasp his importance and why Jesus said of him in [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/11 Matthew 11]:<blockquote>"Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."<ref>[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/11:11 Mt 11:11]  Interestingly, the phrase "among those born of women" implicitly affirms of Jesus' divinity, as well as the existence of angels.</ref></blockquote>The Gospel continues with Jesus' explanation for why John was so great:<blockquote>From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.  
One historical approach we can employ here is to apply a counter-factual, in this case, removal of John from the moment in order to test alternative outcomes. Obviously, God does what God does. Nevertheless, by thinking over the contingency of John's absence, we can better grasp his importance and why Jesus said of him in [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/11 Matthew 11]:<blockquote>"Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."<ref>[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/11:11 Mt 11:11]  Interestingly, the phrase "among those born of women" implicitly affirms of Jesus' divinity, as well as the existence of angels.</ref></blockquote>The Gospel continues with Jesus' explanation for why John was so great:<blockquote>From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.  
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