I love John the most because he was a passionate, courageous follower of Jesus and he died for testifying to the truth.

John the Baptist was among the first to recognize the divinity of Jesus. Not only does he leap in the womb, he instructs his own disciples Andrew and John to follow Jesus, calling him the Lamb of God.

Jesus grieved the death of John and took seriously the threat it posed for him. He withdrew with his disciples for a time to ponder its meaning and to find inspiration in John’s courage and faith.

In his Angelus address on Sunday, Pope Francis encouraged Christians to cultivate the virtue of knowing “how to step aside” in order to bear witness to Jesus, as St. John the Baptist did. The ...