December 19th: St. John the Baptist and Samson compared

Today's plant is Holly and the pre-Christian/pagan practice of sprinkling new born infants with holly water led me to reflect:

"I have written elsewhere about Christian transmutation of pagan practice. Sometimes I think this is to look at things through the wrong end of the telescope. (The Holly water ritual for instance) is so reminiscent of Christian Baptism as to suggest humanity groping blindly for the Sacrament which God would reveal in hiw own good time. It is as if by instinct we knew our need for it, and even guessed its form. But we could only continue to sprinkle our infants with holly water until Christ came to give hus the Holy water of Baptism, vivified through his Spirit."

At this point it was natural to think of St. John the Baptist. The Mass readings recounted his birth and that of Samson, and led me to continue as follows:

" In both cases God reverses barrenness in a married woman; an angel announces the births; there is fear on the part of the parents; both boys are to be vowed to God. But there are many important differences in the history and character of the two. These throw into sharp relief John's role as the immediate precursor of the Saviour, whose Incarnation was essential in God's saving plan. Samson's nameless mother has only partial understanding of events, her husband Manoah almost none at all. By the time he utters the 'Benedictus', the initial fear and disbelief of Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth are completely dispelled in a shared understanding of God's will and meaning.

"Samson's name, derived from the Hebrew for 'sun', is chosen by his mother; God himself chooses John's name, which means 'God's gracious gift'. Samson does not distinguish himself spiritually and is by no means a prophet. Endowed with great physical strength, he is sexually self-indulgent, a fault that leads to his downfall. He is no martyr. John, on the other hand, is not only born of priestly parentage but abandons traditional priesthood to begin the foundation of a new rite and is a prophet from the beginnining. He matches physical hardihood with spiritual strength. Although chaste, he too comes to grief at the hands of an amoral woman. Thus he attains martyrdom. Samson begins to save Israel in his own time; John heralds the One coming to save all people for all time, the One of whom he would testify, 'The one who sent me to baptise with water, said to me, "He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptises with the Holy Spirit." '

" 'O root of Jesse, which stands as an ensign to the peoples, before whom kings are silent, to whom the nations shall entreat, come and deliver us and tarry not.' "

copyright Jane Mosssendew 2002