by Catherine Cavadini The mystery of Christ’s love is prophesied by John the Baptist . He is the forerunner of Christ’s total self-gift. From the womb of his mother, Elizabeth, to his own death at the hands of Herod, John prepares the way of Christ. Alongside Mary, whom John greets from his mother’s womb, John’s life provides for fruitful Advent contemplation. In the liturgical calendar, we celebrate John’s birth on June 24, six months before Christmas. John is the only saint, alongside Mary, whose nativity is commemorated with a liturgical solemnity. This signifies the importance of his witness, for he enters into the liturgical year at various points (including his beheading and now during Advent) to accompany us on our way toward Christ, illuminating our steps. But, in Scripture, where we hear of John’s famous “womb leap,” we next hear of John as living in the desert. This is because the horizons of the desert are the horizons of God’s mercy. Indeed, the desert could be likened to a tomb. It is a place where life is difficult, empty and harsh. As such, though, it is also a place where we come to learn of our dependence on God. God alone gives us life. In his great mercy, even God entered into the tomb, into the desert of death, bringing life there. And love. John went into the desert to seek God in prayer, and to ask for the spiritual sustenance he needed to prepare God’s way. This he began to do by preaching about Christ, and by calling us all to repentance. Around the age of 30, John began to prepare God’s way by baptizing the people — great crowds of them! — in the Jordan River. This is why we call him John the Baptist. Perhaps we can imagine a scene in which John is down in the water with the people; people who have come to him because they are sad, sorrowful, repentant of their sins. John accompanies them, desiring their repentance and forgiveness. The river is a place of washing, of being made clean. And so John accompanies all these crowds of people, going down with them into the depths of their sorrows just as he enters with them into the waters that will wash them clean.