The other night, I was astounded to see Maria Ressa appear on the Late Show w/ Stephen Colbert. Then yesterday morning, she appeared on NPR news with veteran journalist Judy Woodruff! How to Stand Up to a Dictator, the book she’d written, was the topic of conversation. I was transfixed on Maria Ressa just as Colbert & Woodruff were. Maria’s message was as simple, true, & eloquent as it was scary: (a) dictators bully whistle-blowers, & (b) they do so w/ big help from social media. “Free speech stifles free speech,” she said. That’s her short hand for how we’ve spewed lies all over Facebook so we can choke undesirable facts & dark history behind bad leaders we support & love. Maria’s message to America: “if this happened to us, it will also happen to you.” Her prophecy came true in 2021, when Trump supporters stormed their Capitol on January 6.
If Zechariah lived long enough to see his son, his only son, his one beloved son, turn into this camel-hair-wearing, locust-eating, desert-wandering preacher he was, natuwa kaya si Mang Kario, o nag-face-palm? “This is myson!” Gano’n kaya? Or more like, “This is my son?!” Sisters & brothers, Zechariah was priest of the Temple. He knew the Law by heart & lived accordingly: dignified, dutiful, pure. Lalo na siya. Kasi sa matagal na panahon, wala siyang anak. Malamang may alingasngas ‘yon. Priest of the Temple but childless? Walang tagapagmana ng lahi ng tatay kasi baog ang asawa? Yikes. Maybe that was why it took very long before the draw-lots fell upon Zechariah for his turn in the Holy of Holies. “Kasi may sumpa ang Diyos. Walang anak,” bulong siguro ng mga paring Marites. Well, now, he had John! Zechariah must’ve single-handedly taught him everything he knew about the Law, by word & by witness. I bet he groomed John to be Temple priest, too. Jewish sons often inherited their fathers’ professions. Lalo na kung iisa lang anak mo. Lalo na kung pari ka sa Templo…. Pero paglaki ni Juan: he wore no priestly robes, ate nothing but honey & locusts, was never recorded being anywhere near the Temple. Worst of all, he fulminated against the hierarchs, mga kauri ng tatay niya!
A few weeks ago, I had a brief but very stirring conversation about John the Baptist with a bishop I admire the most these past few years. Since our conversation, I’ve been contemplating John the Baptist more earnestly than I ever did before. I imagine John growing up seeing the glories of Temple priesthood, as well as its dark underbelly. His dad must’ve taken pains in shielding him from the latter, kasi baka ma-discourage sa pagiging pari. But John was too astute not to see & question what hierarchs dissimulated: like their lavish lifestyle, or the stealing of sacrificial animals, na imbis na sunugin sa Templo, inuuwi para ulamin ng pamilya, or their manipulating & equivocating theology to legitimize their thriving Temple negosyo. And maybe, just maybe, I imagine, John must’ve seen how his father was marginalized by his fellows, no matter how flatly his old man denied it.
No wonder John swore off Temple priesthood when he grew up. And he showed this by what he did not wear, what he did not eat, & where he did not preach. Instead, he went around baptizing people of their sins, making straight the Law that hierarchs bent out of shape. But he was sure that what he was doing was only for starters. “Because Israel, beloved Israel,” you could almost hear John say, “You won’t know what’ll hit you when the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world finally comes to finish what I’ve begun,” decisive, comprehensive, if painful reform of Israel, beginning w/ aiming his axe right at the root of Temple hierarchy.
Paid FB trolls may call for unity from their Secretlab Titan gaming chairs. Politicians may fight for the poor from the backseat of their Super Grandias. Clerics & professors may compose their homilies & lessons on ministry & mission while sipping an espresso by a window overlooking a piazza. But John the Baptist then & Maria Ressa today, they stand up to systematic bullies from the same ground where the bullied like themselves have fallen. They have transparent but humble vision instead of concealed but rapacious ambition. They testify & witness while they suffer, instead of flatter & massage for promotion. While hierarchs have shiny tiles & soft carpets underfoot, John & Maria have a dagger hanging over their heads. In other words, their credibility & witness are particularly powerful because they do not preach from comfort. Rather, they teach from lived & shared reality that is dangerous. Because of this, their modesty isn’t cultivated. Their slogans aren’t sappy. And their nationalism isn’t disingenuous.
As we read more about John the Baptist these coming days, we remember that real heroes give their lives to something bigger than themselves. Pretend heroes, on the other hand, sell themselves into being the biggest something in life. Real heroes act. Wannabe’s just pander.
May we never lose the spirit of protest in our lives. May the gentle Lamb of God be our courage to stand up to systematic bullies.
Homily of Fr. Arnel Aquino, SJ on the 2nd Sunday of Advent
3 December 2022
Cenacle Retreat House