There is a continuity between St. John the Baptist and Our Lord. It all fits into what John said: “He must increase, I must decrease.”

John has been arrested. His central and constant message is repentance: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” John is preparing the way for the Lord. “Get ready,” he is saying, because the kingdom is close; it won’t be long—the day is dawning.

Now that John is no longer preaching, Jesus begins his public ministry. Again, in John’s words: “He must increase, I must decrease.” And it begins in the most unlikely way: Jesus departs Nazareth, and went to live in Capernaum by the sea. He doesn’t go to the big city, Jerusalem, the center of the Jewish religion, but He goes down to Galilee. It is there that this great faith of our’s is born.

His message, similar to John’s—repentance, but with a twist. The kingdom is not only at hand—it also takes a turn. Our Lord’s message is: “The kingdom of God is among you. Repent and believe.”

For both St. John the Baptist and Our Lord Jesus Christ the central message is the same: repent—and the reason is the same, for the kingdom. This message is not only for those of our Lord’s time and place. This message is not only for unbelievers, or those of other faiths.

The call to repentance—conversion, is for each one of us. We above all are to heed the Lord’s command to repent, for the kingdom is here and now. Wherever God is, the Kingdom of heaven is present. And to partake of the kingdom demands holiness, purity, faith, hope, and love.

We ought repent daily through examination of conscience. We ought repent frequently through sacramental confession. For every time we consume the body & blood of the Lord, the kingdom of heaven is here and now, and for that to bear good fruit, and for that to continue into eternity, we must repent and believe and be converted. Of course it doesn’t happen over night.

If we are to take the Lord seriously, we will make repentance a daily part of our lives, frequent the Sacrament of Penance, and rejoice in His love during Holy Communion, for the Kingdom of God is within us.