Receiving baptism was an outward and visible sign of the conversion of those who had listened to his preaching and decided to repent. (…) Conversion involves suffering for sins committed, the desire to be free from them, the intention to exclude them from one’s own life forever. To exclude sin it is also necessary to reject everything that is connected to it; the things that are connected to sin and thus, we have to reject: a worldly mentality, excessive esteem for comforts, excessive esteem for pleasure, for well-being, for wealth. The example of this detachment comes to us once again from today’s Gospel in the person of John the Baptist: an austere man who renounces excess and seeks the essential. This is the first aspect of conversion: detachment from sin and worldliness: (…) Detachment is not an end in itself, but is a means of attaining something greater, namely, the Kingdom of God, communion with God, friendship with God.
Pope Francis, Angelus, 6 December 2020
