Nick Anderson’s Reviews > Saint John the Baptist: Priest, Prophet, and Martyr > Status Update

“John is not just one of the prophets, he is, in some way, the most necessary of all the prophets, the one who prepared the way: that narrow and hard way which leads to life, over which all might come to Jesus. This implies that there is no other way to come to Christ except through the way prepared by John.”

“For while habitual faith is infused first at baptism, that faith becomes actual through the witness of the sacrament of Matrimony. The sacrament of Matrimony is the first sign by which Christ is glorified, and children first learn to believe in Christ's love for them; they first become disciples through the marriage of their parents.”

“I once heard a story told by a silversmith that the way he can tell that the purification is complete is that he can see his image reflected in the molten silver or gold. So too, God's purification of our souls is complete when He can finally see His image in our souls.”

“And so the spirit and power of Elijah did not consist in miracles, or condemning his enemies to death, or even in preserving his own bodily life… Though John worked no miracle, his very life was a miracle of moral perfection. And though his foes triumphed over his body, his spirit remained firmly rooted in God and in the hope of the resurrection.”

“John was untouched by the world; instead, God Himself would be his teacher and formator. To come in the spirit and power of Elijah means to come as a perfect and docile instrument of the divine Spirit and Power. John acted always as God would have him act, and he spoke only what God instructed him to speak.”

“the voice goes before the word, as John went before Christ… through the voice the word is known, so also through John's preaching Christ was made known… because the voice without the word does not direct the mind to some one thing, but the whole of John's preaching was directed to Christ.”