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It can be really difficult to live into the ambassador or even the prophet role, especially when all seems, but actually isn’t, going on well around you. That’s the situation that Mirabel finds herself in the film Encanto.
Mirabel is part of the Family Madrigal who, after escaping civil unrest in her grandmother’s time, have established themselves as protectors and pillars of their community. This is in large part due to the miracle their grandmother Abuela, matriarch for the family, received shortly after her husband died. This came from a candle, which she refers to as a miracle, which created a magical house for her and her family and gave them, and their children after them, special powers to help the community in different ways.
Mirabel is the only one in the family to never receive a gift of these special powers. This fact is very hard on her, though she tries to still be supportive and spread information about her family throughout the village. Even though she doesn’t have powers like the rest of her family, she seems to have a special bond with the house, rivaled only by her Abuela. Because of that bond, she starts to see cracks in the house before anyone else does. When she tries to warn the family, she is silenced because they are all trying to keep up appearances that they are strong while forgetting the real reason they were given these powers in the first place: to be a help to their neighbors and each other.
Even though it is hard to be second to so many with so many great gifts, Mirabel pushes forward. Even when no one seems to listen to her warnings, she keeps moving onward to discover what is going on with the family’s magic and how she can help. There are times where her journey becomes too great, but she is still, after resting for a moment, able to get back in and try to help her family.
It would be hard for many of us to be in Mirabel’s position as a spokesperson and a prophet. We all would feel the hardship of what she faces. Many of us still might not be able to move forward like she was.
How much more, then, should we respect the work of John the Baptist, who we hear of in our readings this morning?
Here we have the ultimate second fiddle in that John the Baptist isn’t playing for himself but for Jesus. Nothing John the Baptist does is about him. It is all about the one who will come after him.
Yet we don’t see John the Baptist waver. We never see him complain, not even that he’s not at the center of it all. We see him continue to be the voice preparing others for the coming of the Lord. It’s not about him. It’s all about Jesus.
This is all the more difficult because of John the Baptist’s task. He’s not there to pat people on the back for what they’ve been doing. He’s not there to make friends with the people in power, the religious establishment at the time. He’s not even there to play nice with the politicians around him as we see later during his disastrous interaction with King Herod and his family.
John the Baptist is there to call people to repent. That’s what the baptism he is offering is all about. It is about washing away sins in order to be clean. It is about purifying to be ready for the coming of the Lord.
This is not a message that makes one popular. These aren’t the kind of words you use to make friends. Yet they are what is needed to get people ready. This is the message needed in order that we can let God in.
John the Baptist wasn’t afraid of sharing the hard message. He didn’t complain that his mission wasn’t about himself but another. John the Baptist relished in his work. He did it well. We remember him for preparing the Way of the Lord and doing so to the best of his ability, even though it got him put to death in the end.
Even though our Lord has come into this world, the work of preparing others to receive Him is never done, not until He comes again. We have to be prepared to be like John the Baptist too. Even when we don’t get to proclaim ourselves, we still have to proclaim Jesus and Christ Jesus alone. Even when we start to see the cracks around us that no one else wants to acknowledge, we still have to show them. Even when others want to focus on how great things are, we still have to speak the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Even when our message condemns some, we still have to share it in hopes that those once condemned may be saved.
Our role is never easy, but it is the path that is worth taking. If John the Baptist could play second fiddle to Jesus, then we can too. In the end, it is not about us. It is never about us. At the end of the day, it is all about Jesus.