There are many holy people in the New Testament yet it is only the Lord, Our Lady and St John the Baptist who have a liturgical marking of their birthdays. St Joseph misses out! There has to be a theological point to this with regard to John. I think it is important because St Luke saw it as important am recorded it in his Gospel. Subsequently, he includes the ministry of John the Baptist in the Acts of the Apostles as key to understanding the relationship between the Old and the New Testaments. In other words John the Baptist is key to developing a theological hermeneutic of continuity between the Old and the New Testaments. This can be contrasted with the hermeneutic of rupture as shown in the teaching of the heretic Marcion. We can understand how important this is when we consider the abuses and errors that have been made by those who maintain a hermeneutic of rupture between pre and post Vatican II Church rather than the hermeneutic of continuity suggested by Pope Benedict XVI.. Talking to Jews and God-fearers (Gentiles) in Antioch in Pisidia St Paul after speaking of David and John the Baptist says: "You descendants of Abraham's family, and others who fear God, to us the message of salvation has been sent." (Acts: 13: 26)
No comments:
Post a Comment