Finding Commonality with the saints

He surpasses all old testament saints, everyone born of a woman is lower than him who in preceding the manifestation of the Son of God in the flesh, was made worthy to baptize the Lord in the Jordan. He was born to a God-fearing couple, advanced in age, named John, the Baptist.

"The Holy Church glorifies him as "the angel, the apostle, the martyr, the prophet, the beacon, the friend of Christ, the seal of the prophets, the mediator of the old and new grace, and in birth most honorable, and the voice of the Word of light."(S.V Bulgakov, Handbook for Church Servers, 2nd. ed., (Kharkov, 1900). Translated by Archpriest Eugene D. Tarris.)

My name has special significance, meaning "little Peter," (having come from a family who received the faith from the Roman Catholic Church, through the apostle Peter). "The Voice" through marriage, and now "of the Angels" (messenger).

The name of John in Hebrew, means, the grace of the Lord. He fulfilled his life as mediator of the old and new grace, by one crying in the wilderness, the messenger, the forerunner, John the baptist of Christ.

What does being a friend to Christ mean to you? How do you serve Him? We can all identify with John the Baptist when we follow Christ and do God's will.

Have you ever thought about what your name means? Its significance? We can all imitate Saint John the forerunner, by becoming "a friend of Christ" and that would make you an "Angel," using today's terms. We can become the beacons needed in a very lost world, by imitating the saints, and like John, crying out in the wilderness of our hearts, singing "Prepare Ye The Way of the Lord."