In the reading from the Gospel of John today, we hear from the fiery preacher, John the Baptist. Drawing on the words of Isaiah, he proclaims, “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord’” (1).

Over 500 years ago, on the fourth Sunday of Advent in 1511, Dominican Friar Antonio de Montesinos preached on these same words from John the Baptist on the island of Hispaniola, which is now the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Montesinos and the Dominicans with which he lived had come from Spain and were horrified by the treatment of the indigenous people. Montesinos was the one who actually preached during Mass, but the homily was signed by the whole community. It began like this:

“I who am a voice of Christ crying in the wilderness of this island […] for this is going to be the strangest voice that ever you heard, the harshest and hardest and most awful and most dangerous that ever you expected to hear. This voice says that you are in mortal sin, that you live and die in it, for the cruelty and tyranny you use in dealing with these innocent people. Tell me, by what right or justice do you keep these Indians in such a cruel and horrible servitude? On what authority have you waged a detestable war against these people, who dwelt quietly and peacefully on their own land? Why do you keep them so oppressed and weary, not giving them enough to eat, not taking care of them in their illness? For with the excessive work you demand of them they fall ill and die, or rather you kill them with your desire to extract and acquire gold every day. And what care do you take that they should be instructed in religion? Are these not men? Have they not rational souls? Are you not bound to love them as you love yourself?” (2)

The wealthy landowners and civic leaders were not happy with this message and came to complain to the Dominicans. They responded by preaching almost the exact same message the following week.

This year, we have heard many voices crying out in the desert. We’ve heard from health care workers asking for us to stay at home, wear masks, wash hands and stay safe in order to protect the elderly and most vulnerable in our community (3). We’ve heard from Black women and men, calling attention to the horrific murders of innocent Black bodies in this country (4). We’ve heard from environmental activists calling for the reduction of fossil fuels and the responsible use of resources, as climate change is most directly caused by the wealthiest countries and most directly impacts those with the least resources (5). We’ve heard from the indigenous communities, where COVID-19 hit particularly hard, asking to be recognized on many levels, regarding health, history and identity (6). We’ve heard from the families in Sub-Saharan Africa that child malnourishment and starvation are the greatest risks to their communities during the pandemic (7). We’ve heard from the Caribbean communities in Central America that destruction from multiple hurricanes are just one more difficulty added to the other causes for migration (8). These voices keep calling out in the wilderness, begging and pleading for the opportunity for all to not just survive, but to thrive. Are they not human beings? Will we not listen?

The words of John were precursors for the actions of Jesus, who upheld the dignity of all. The words of the Dominican preachers were precursors for the Dominican Friar Francisco de Vitoria, who is known as the founder of Human Rights and is recognized at both the United Nations buildings in New York and Geneva (9). How will the voices calling out to us lead us to be agents for change in the world today?

1 (USCCB 2020)

2 (PBS 2001)

3 (Brueck 2020)

4 (Segura 2020)

5 (Friedman 2019)

6 (Curtice 2020)

7 (Vatican News 2020)

8 (Escalon 2020)

9 (Peschken 2017)

Bibliography

Brueck, Hilary. 2020. "Fauci says it's time for the US to 'put aside these extraordinary excuses' and mandate masks ." Business Insider. October 28. Accessed 2 2020, December. https://www.businessinsider.com/fauci-5-reasons-to-wear-a-mask-during-the-pandemic-2020-10.

Curtice, Kaitlin and Esther Choo. 2020. "Indigenous populations: left behind in the COVID-19 response." The Lancet. June 6. Accessed December 2, 2020. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31242-3/fulltext.

Escalon, Claudio and Maria Verza. 2020. "Punishing hurricanes to spur more Central American migration." AP News. November 24. Accessed December 2, 2020. https://apnews.com/article/honduras-floods-immigration-coronavirus-pandemic-central-america-f7071e36268ad5bf908d06e9c4bb341f.

Friedman, Lisa. 2019. "John Kerry Launches Star-Studded Climate Coalition." NY Times. November 30. Accessed December 2, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/30/climate/john-kerry-climate-change.html.

PBS. 2001. "Conquistadors: All the World is Human." Public Broadcasting System. Accessed November 15, 2020. https://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/devaca/lascasas_01.html.

Peschken, Christian. 2017. "The Little Known Story of a Dominican Who Helped Found the UN." Catholic News Agency. February 9. Accessed December 2, 2020. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/column/the-little-known-story-of-a-dominican-who-helped-found-the-un-3702.

Segura, Olga. 2020. "How can Catholics help lead the fight against racism?" America Magazine. May 29. Accessed December 2, 2020. https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2020/05/29/how-can-catholics-help-lead-fight-against-racism.

USCCB. 2020. "Third Sunday of Advent." United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Accessed December 2, 2020. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121320.cfm.

Vatican News. 2020. "Covid-19: 67,000 African children risk death from starvation before end of year." Vatican News. September 01. Accessed December 2, 2020. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/world/news/2020-09/covid-19-save-the-children-malnutrition-sub-saharan-africa.html.