BY PURVI RADIA|NT NETWORK

We all know that Sao Joao signifies the moment when St John the Baptist leapt for joy in the womb of his mother. To mark this occasion, people jump in wells as a symbolic gesture.

However, in the whole excitement surrounding the feast, the virtues of St John are rarely brought into focus. He had many good qualities that many are unaware of. The attributes possessed by St John then and the qualities we posses are almost poles apart.  Father Feroz Fernandes enlightens us more about the saint’s life by drawing a parallel between the saint and today’s modern day man. He says, “St John the Baptist was an ascetic and we as human are consumerist. Humans are interested in a materialistic life. This leaves us with no time to know who was St John the Baptist and which were the qualities he had.

Fr Fernandes further said that St John the Baptist played a prophetic role in society while we often play passive roles.

St John the Baptist lived like a hermit in the desert of Judea and preached against evils and asked people to repent and be baptised. The whole purpose of his work was in a way to proclaim the arrival of Jesus. At a time when we are still hunting to find the reason for our existence, St John knew the core mission of his life at a very early age.

St John the Baptist, says Fr Fernandes was considered the forerunner of Jesus and suffered martyrdom for holding onto his principles of truth and justice. Fr Fernandes poses an important question, “which human would even do that in current times?” If St John the Baptist raised his voice in support of what is true, we see many times the opposite taking place in our lives. Man chooses to maintain silence against anything wrong and refuses to repent when they commit anything wrong. Such a simple man, devoid of all worldly pleasures, inspired many of his followers to follow Jesus Christ, the messiah.

Fr Fernandes said that Sao Joao could be related to the lifestyle of St John in a deeper way. Just a kind gesture on our part can revive the teachings of St John the Baptist in a festival that has become so commercialised. We need to protect the social fabric from collapsing, adds Fr Fernandes.