THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE DESERT (Jn 1:19-28)

Dear friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Gospel invites us to contemplate the figure of John the Baptist, that prophet in the desert who emerges as a humble and powerful voice crying out in the wilderness, calling the people to conversion. In this Gospel, the priests and Levites, sent by the Jews of Jerusalem, approach him with insistent questions: "Who are you? Are you the Messiah? Are you Elijah? Are you the prophet?" John is not puffed up with pride, he does not appropriate titles that do not belong to him. On the contrary, he responds with disarming simplicity: "I am not the Christ... I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord!"

In this response, dear friends, there is a profound lesson for each of us. John the Baptist is not the center of history; He is the forerunner, the one who prepares the way. His baptism is a baptism of conversion, a call to repentance, a gesture to straighten the crooked paths of our hearts. He is like a shepherd who gathers the lost sheep, calling them to a change of life, to a return to the Lord. But John knows well that his role is limited: "Among you stands one you do not know, the one who comes after me." He points to Christ, the true Shepherd who will baptize not only with water, but in the Holy Spirit, granting a spiritual regeneration, a rebirth of the soul that goes beyond simple remorse. It is the Spirit who transforms, who renews, who makes us new creatures, capable of living eternal life to the full.

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