When I think of John the Baptist,
I think of one of my favorite prayers—one that I say often.
It was a prayer written by a very humble Bishop
Who lived in South America.
He has gone home to God now.
His name was Dom Hélder Câmara.

And this was the simple prayer that he said every day:

Lord, permit the symbol of my life
To be a candle which burns itself, spends itself,
Consumes itself while there is yet wax to burn.

Lord, permit the symbol of my life
To be a candle which burns and spends
And consumes itself while there is yet wax to burn.

That was the life, and that was the mission,
Of John the Baptist.

He was humble.
He points to Jesus across the river
At one point in the Scripture,
And he says to his disciples, “I must decrease.
He must increase.”

And in his humility, John sends his disciples
To go and follow Jesus.
Great humility.

John understood what his mission was:
Burning, consuming, and spending his life
Pointing to the Light of the World,
Pointing to Christ, our Savior.

All of us as disciples of the Lord Jesus,
All of us baptized into the life of the Lord Jesus,
Are called to be disciples like John,
To follow in the way of Jesus,
To do so with great humility and understanding,
To follow the will of what the Lord asks
Of each and every one of us.

We then are given the light through Baptism.
At Baptism, we are given a candle, and we too
Are called to carry that Light of Christ,
To bring the Light of Christ to those who need compassion,
And those who need hope, and those who need healing.

Like John, we know we are not the Christ,
But we are called to follow in the way of Christ,
To bring the Kingdom of Christ, the Kingdom of God,
The Kingdom of compassion and love to others.