[A Homily of Fr. Matthew Kelty for the Birth of St. John the Baptist, June 24, 1992, (Jn 1:57-66, 80)]
 
 

We cannot but be distressed at the large role violence plays in the Christian drama, and that from the beginning.  Today we celebrate the Birth of John the Baptist, a joyous event.  Great things are to come through this man.  Great things are said of him.  And will be said.  Yet, we who read history know that this happy birth will come to a violent end.  Decapitated in prison, and served to a vengeful woman.  And even the Lord Jesus was hardly here when He was driven from His own land, a number of children killed in a desperate hope that He would be among them.  We know Christ came to a violent end.  And all who were closely associated with Him.  This is startling, baffling.  And true.

When Christ came upon the human scene, He came upon a violent one.  We do things violently.  It is the way we make emphatic statements.  Still do.

Yet Christ is non-violent.  The scene when He took cords in hand and drove the cattle from the temple precincts is as close as He came to violence.  And one is not violent in driving cattle.  It is not necessary.  And He never laid a whip on anyone's body.

As monks and followers of Jesus, we are surely called to non-violence in thought, word, deed.  Nor do we act in such a way as to provoke violence.  For it is possible to get what you deserve.  The Church has been the object of violent reaction all through history.  Often out of hatred.  But sometimes because she was not true to her calling.  That happens too.  You can indeed deserve what you get.  It is good to be aware of this.  We all know, too, people who are skilled at making martyrs of themselves.  Jesus has no part of this.

Nor is He impressed, one gathers, with prudence and tact carried too far.  By some people's terms, He himself  lacked good judgment in these qualities.  And John the Baptist even more so.  Their style is thought crude, primitive.  Easily said.

For all that, we are not wanting men and women in our day whom Jesus and John would praise for standing for truth and justice to death.  We are not short of men and women of calibre.  Quality.

And we need them to inspire us, stimulate us.  Think what you will, the Church is a bold Church and a lonely one who will stand proud and maintain in the teeth of persistent disagreement that birth control does not wear, that abortion is evil, and so is divorce.  And mercy death.  And greed is ugly, as is exploitation of land, and sea and air and peoples.  So too, mockery, ridicule, gossip, slander, hatred of God, His Church, His servants and friends.  If you wonder then why so few priests emerge from a people who do not agree with what they hear, your wonder is odd.  We have here another form of violence.

In the cloister garden and in realms of peace and quiet one can read the soul.  It is possible in grace to unravel the complex doings of the human mind and heart.  For our endowment has been contaminated.  The capital sins may be trimmed on the surface, but the root system be intact.  Monks can be violent, in gentle ways, of course.  We can get even, assert ourselves, be dominant, teach a lesson, give tit for tat, practice jungle warfare in the Garden of Eden.  Yet the grace of God and vocation will enable us to see all that, acknowledge, repent, and renew.  That is what the vow is about: conversion of manners.  It is a life work.  And a life of hard labor.

The birth of John can give us much to think on.  I have known many who died in the service of God, some of them violently.  I have known some who suffered much for their faith in the service of truth and justice.  I do not think I have known any who literally were put to death for the faith.  But that is only circumstance.   I could easily have done so.  Given our times.

Do you suppose any of us will end with a violent death like Jesus and John?  Witnesses to God's justice.  Who knows?  We leave that to God's providence.  Meanwhile we can practice non-violence.  Practice makes perfect.  It can be taken for granted, that any who died so, learned the art over years of love.  We can do that too, and so help tame by grace the widespread violence of our day.  Amen.