Today’s homily is entitled, "The Open-mindedness of John the Baptist."

If a "politically-correct" person heard that, he would probably say, "Fr. Ray, you have got to be kidding! You’re joking, right? We of the politically-correct crowd know that John the Baptist was one of the most close-minded people of his time—one of the most close-minded people of any time! He was a right-wing religious zealot: an ultra-conservative, morally-repressed fanatic!"

To which I would answer, "Well, my politically-correct friend, as usual you’ve got it all backwards. In fact, I will go so far as to say that YOU are the close-minded one, not John!"

Let me now demonstrate what I mean.

The open-mindedness of John the Baptist is revealed quite clearly in today’s Gospel story. There we are told that as he was baptizing people in the Jordan River one day, he spotted Jesus off in the distance. John pointed his finger toward his cousin and cried out to the crowd, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’" And finally at the end of the text he makes a final statement of faith in Jesus when he says, "I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God."

Now we might be tempted to read all that and say, "Well, of course John would say those things about Jesus. John leapt in his mother’s womb when Jesus came into his presence at the Visitation. He knew the identity of Jesus—he knew that our Lord was the Lamb of God and the Son of the Most High—from the earliest days of his life!"

Not so, my brothers and sisters! And John himself admits his ignorance right here in this passage when he candidly says to the crowds, "I did not know him." And notice that he says it twice, obviously repeating the statement in order to emphasize it.

John had to learn the true identity of his cousin, and the true nature of his cousin’s mission. Those facts were not immediately evident to him. Sure, he knew from the beginning that his cousin was great, but there are many "great" people in the world. The exact nature of Jesus’ greatness was revealed to John over time, although in today’s Gospel we do hear about the decisive moment when it all came together for him: "I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and remain upon him. . . . The one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’"

We do not know what John thought of Jesus prior to this event at the Jordan River, but we do know that this event radically altered his assessment of his cousin. John, therefore, was clearly a very open-minded man, in the sense that he was open-minded to the truth! As we just saw in this story, when the truth was revealed to him by God, he accepted it without question or hesitation! A close-minded person would not have.

This is what real open-mindedness is all about: it’s openness to (as St. Paul says in Philippians 4) "all that is true, all that deserves respect, all that is honest, pure, admirable, decent, virtuous, or worthy of praise."

Of course, that’s not the politically-correct understanding of open-mindedness which we encounter on an almost daily basis. The politically-correct definition of open-mindedness is "the willingness to accept anything bizarre, vulgar, immoral or ungodly."—"You refuse to call a crucifix submerged in urine ‘art?’; you won’t support homosexual ‘marriages?’; you’re not very open-minded, are you?"

Is it any wonder they wouldn’t like John the Baptist?!

I ask you this morning: In terms of truth, who are the close-minded ones? The John the Baptists of the world? Or the politically-correct men and women who have the reputation of being so "open?"

Let me answer the question by using a timely example: abortion. After all, this is the week when we commemorate the tragic Supreme Court decision which legalized that practice in our nation back in 1973.

After the horrible events of September 11^th, I gave a homily in which I compared the philosophy of the terrorists to the pro-choice philosophy which stands behind abortion. I decided to send a copy of the homily to our four national political stars in Washington D.C., three of whom call themselves "pro-choice" and have the reputation in the liberal press of being very "open-minded" public servants. The only one who had the dignity to respond was Mr. Chafee—I will give him credit for that. But listen to what he wrote: "Dear Reverend Suriani: Thank you for sharing with me your recent homily given in the aftermath of the tragic events of September 11^th. It was thoughtful of you to write. I certainly respect the deeply held convictions of those who oppose abortion. Although the issue of abortion remains divisive in our country, it is my hope that all Americans can unite in condemning the savage attacks in New York and the Pentagon on September 11^th, and in supporting the efforts underway to bring about justice and prevent further violence. Thank you again for getting in touch, Senator Lincoln Chaffee." The letter was signed—it wasn’t stamped—so I know he approved of it personally.

Here we have a marvelous example of how to avoid an issue! A truly open-minded person seeks the truth, like John the Baptist did. He doesn’t avoid discussing the issue! But that is an accepted tactic among those who support the killing of the unborn: they’ll talk about anything and everything else, except abortion and what it is.

We need to pray that our pro-choice national political stars and the many others who share their views will be more like John Dearie. I read about Dearie recently in a book about the late Cardinal John O’Connor. John Dearie was a Catholic politician from the Bronx who was very popular in the 1980’s. He was also "pro-choice." In 1986, the archdiocese of New York, headed by Cardinal O’Connor, forbade him to speak at Catholic Church functions. Dearie could have responded with the arrogance of a Mario Cuomo or Jack Reed, but to his great credit he did not. Here’s what he later wrote about the experience:

[Afterward] the Cardinal had my wife and me to dinner at his residence. He had a remarkable way of showing his thanks. As stern as he was in the beginning, there was a great feeling of love about him. And he was concerned about what my decision would mean to me both in a political and personal sense."

John the Baptist would heartily approve of that type of open-mindedness—and humility.