A Famine Not of Bread

"St. John the Baptist Sees Jesus from Afar" by   James Tissot Click here to listen to this sermon. The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send My messenger before your face, who will prepare Your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight,’” John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes H e who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but H e will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:1-8). Grace to you and...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes He who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:6-8). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Most of you here are old enough to remember Ed McMahon—the rest of you can Google it later. For thirty years, Ed was Johnny Carson’s sidekick on The Tonight Show. A very talented comedian, actor, singer, and announcer in his own right, Ed’s main job on The Tonight Show was to make Johnny Carson look good, to laugh at Johnny’s jokes, to play the straight man in their sketches, and to introduce the talk show host each night with his trademark “Heeeere’s Johnny!” Like Ed McMahon, everything John said and did was an effort to direct everyo...