Then Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Lk 1:38
The Testimony of the Baptist
And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and levites to him, saying, Who are you? He confessed and denied not; he confessed: I am not the Christ. They asked him, What then? Art you Elijah? And he said, I am not. Are you the prophet? He answered, No. Then said they to him, Who are you? We must answer those who have sent us. What do you say about yourself? He said: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
In his Advent reflections, Fr Alfred Delp writes about “Advent figures”. Two of these Advent figures are: Mary, the Mother of Jesus and John the Baptist.
In my reflections on these two people, I am impressed by the fact that these two persons who are so close to God are able to give very clear and unambiguous information about themselves, about their identity. I have noticed recently that many people of our time are searching for their identity, asking themselves: Who am I? Isn’t it true that the closer a person gets to God, the better self-knowledge he or she gains?
It would be interesting to find out what St. Vincent Pallotti wrote on this subject.
Sr. Clementia
Photo: Provincial Archive Limburg
