An Inconvenient Man
I think we can say that St John the Baptist would not be a popular man today. Our Lord said that a prophet is not accepted in his own land; given the way things are, I'd be tempted to say John would not be accepted anywhere now; dare I say it, least of all in certain constituencies of the Church? He is too blunt, lacks sensitivity, is a little too certain when it comes to moral issues; no doubt it would be said that he was not compassionate, he would drive people away. There is truth in some of that, he was blunt and certain of his faith and mission. He didn't lack compassion nor sensitivity, but he didn't subject them to sentimentalism or relativism; he realized how high the stakes were and he was not going to soft-pedal on what was ruining souls. He did drive people away; I'm sure you couldn't see the Pharisees for dust when he got going and they fled the scene so as not to be contaminated by controversy. But he attracted people too, those who realized t...
