Crossing the Bridge

Feast of the Birth of John the Baptist
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At this weekend’s liturgies, we celebrate the Feast of the Birth of John the Baptist. John gets special recognition, because he is the bridge between the Old Testament and the New. You might call him the last of the Old Testament prophets, pointing the way to the coming Messiah.

By its very definition, a bridge connects two solid land masses by crossing over some kind of gap. It could be water, it could be an abyss… or perhaps some other dangerous or difficult space. And sometimes, bridges are scary to cross!

I was out hiking in Ohio with Greg last year, and of course Maggie was along. There was a place on the trail where we had to cross a rocky stream, and they had built a wooden foot bridge across it. You had to climb up 10 or 12 steps, cross over the bridge, then climb down the same way on the other side. Maggie refused to go, and there was no way she could swim across. Greg and I had to literally cover her eyes and carry her across!

I think this makes an interesting metaphor, because many people found John the Baptist to be a bridge they couldn’t bring themselves to cross. The Jews of the day, even though many had lost their real connection with God, found the way pointed out by John to be too hard or too strange to accept. I guess we shouldn’t be all that surprised. All the prophets experienced the same thing. People get comfortable in the place where they are—even dreadful places—and it isn’t easy to move them along.

When John Paul was pope, one of his favorite and most often repeated sayings was “Don’t be afraid!” He said it all the time, reminding us how much God loves all his children and looks out for them. The Lord is always trying to persuade us to come closer to him, but in our fear, we hold back or shy away. I think one of the greatest gifts of faith we can receive is the ability to overcome this fear in our life.

I am in awe of John the Baptist. Not because of his fashion sense or his gourmet diet. Not even because of his courage to pipe up and speak the truth regardless of the fact that it eventually cost him his head.

No, I’m in awe of him because he was 100% authentic. He knew who he was. He knew what his mission was. And he was passionate and fearless about living it. I want to live the same way.

If you think about the people who you most admire—not necessarily the saints but people in the world—this sense of authenticity is a common denominator. Quite often, these are people who come across as bigger than life. They’re audacious and even driven. They’re on a mission, and they’re bound and determined to accomplish it. And hopefully the ones we truly admire are also good and kind and loving people.

We “regular” folks, unfortunately, aren’t always like that. We may be filled with fears and uncertainties. Should I do this? Should I do that? What if I fail? What if someone doesn’t like it and they wind up hating me or laughing at me? What if I choose A, and B would have been better? In the end, it’s easy to wind up being paralyzed and doing nothing.

In other words, it’s easy to get stuck on one side of the bridge.

It may have to do with a relationship or a job or getting involved in some activity that we’d like to do. Or, it may have to do with growing in our faith so we’re willing to step outside our comfort zone to further the kingdom of God.

Fear not: John the Baptist can be our saint and our model.

Like Jesus himself, John the Baptist’s youth is unknown to us. All the Bible tells us is that after his birth, he “grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel” (Lk 1: 80).

How do you become strong in spirit? You become a person of prayer. A person of humility and patience and peace. A person who spends desert time—in other words, quiet and private time—with the Lord and is willing to trust him. A person who continues to beg and pester God for the answers, the opportunities, the shining moments of grace and revelation to show us our special path. And each time we get an answer or a bit of light—and act on it—we become stronger in spirit and are propelled further along.

On this feast day, it would be good to ask for John the Baptist’s intercession in our prayer. We pray for some of the same spirit that he had—some of his kind of vision and bravery and passion. We pray for authenticity in our life. And above all, we pray for his unwavering love for God.

St. John, pray for us: that we, too, may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.