John the Baptist

Solemnity of John the Baptist




In the Catholic calendar, the feast days of saints are normally celebrated when they die and go to heaven - except in these three cases: Jesus, Mother Mary and John the Baptist - this is no ordinary distinction. All three were pre-ordained for a very powerful mission at their conception.

The feast date June 24th is derived from the message given by Archangel Gabriel to Mother Mary at the Annunciation (March 25th), "And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren" (Luke 1:36). 

True to his mission, John did exactly what he had to do and refused to steal the spotlight from the Messiah, as we hear on the Gospel of John "[The next day] he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29)

St Augustine of Hippo, has a very interesting take on John's testimony, *He must increase; I must decrease* (John 3:30)

  • Right around the Nativity of John the Baptist, on June 21st is the Summer solstice, the days reach their peak brightness and then begin to shorten. Light decreases.
  • Right around the the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas, on December 21st is the Winter solstice, the darkest days of winter end, and the days begin to lengthen. Light increases.

 

Let's end with the Canticle of Zacharias on the birth of his son John the Baptist
 
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel
He has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
Born of the house of his servant David.  
Through his holy prophets he promised of old,
That he would save us from our enemies,
From the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant.  
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham, to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.  
And you, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
For you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.  
In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
And to guide our feet into the way of peace.  
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. 
Amen. 


Happy feast!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. Kindly don’t engage in trolling, flame-baiting, name-calling, insulting, stereotyping or gratuitous attacks. Thank you for being a good citizen.

Popular posts from this blog

Rev. Fr. Rudolf Schoch SJ

Image
  Rev. Fr. Rudolf Schoch S.J., educator par excellence  Rev. Fr. Schoch S.J. The very best teach from the heart and not from books. Ever grateful for the life lessons you taught all of us dearest Fr. Schoch. You truly cared and in doing so you inspired us to be our best at all times. Authors note: This is my homage to Fr. Rudolf Schoch S.J., who was my principal at St Vincent's High School from 1973 to 1977 besides teaching Civics. He was a larger-than-life figure who inspired thousands of students with his administrative acumen, sense of social justice, empathy for the disadvantaged and tireless pursuit of excellence.  A. M. D. G. (Ad Majorem Dei Glorium, For the greater glory of God). Education Born in Basel, Switzerland on September 27, 1913, Rudolf Robert Schoch completed his schooling in the medieval town of Feldkirch in Austria bordering Switzerland and Liechtenstein. One can only imagine the buzz on campus with students from present-day Austria, Hungary, Poland, Cz...
Read more

Fr. Cyril Desbruslais S.J. : A man for all seasons

Image
  Rev. Fr. Cyril Desbruslais S.J.: A man for all seasons If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then you are a leader. ~ John Quincy Adams Preface This is a homage to Fr. Cyril Desbruslais S.J.,  on the 50th year anniversary of his youth ministry, on his 81st birthday.   I first interacted with Cyril in 1978 and he remains to this day my friend, brother, mentor and spiritual director. Like many who grew up in the Cantonment area of Poona in the 1970s (and since then right up to this very day), I had the distinct privilege of encountering this tireless youth leader whose ability to identify and connect with youth remains unsurpassed - and I am undoubtedly better for it.  From him, I got the inherent capacity to think  critically with a healthy dose of curiosity and skepticism while keeping an open mind to contrary ideas. As also a willingness to debate respectfully including the ability to disagree without being disagr...
Read more

Solemnity of Mother Mary

Image
 Jan 1st - Solemnity of Mother Mary, Mother of God and Queen of Peace The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God falls on 1st January, exactly one week after Christmas, the end of the Octave (8 days) of Christmastide.  Solemnities in the Catholic Church are the highest rank of liturgical celebration, higher than feast days or memorials.  By celebrating a solemnity dedicated to Mary’s motherhood, the Church highlights the significance of her unique role in the life of Jesus. It is fitting to honour Mary as the Mother of Jesus because we are not only honouring Mary, who was chosen among all women throughout history to bear the Incarnate word of God, but we also honour her son as our Lord and Redeemer, who is fully God and fully human (like us in all things except sin). Council of Ephesus Jesus’ unique nature as human and divine, both simultaneously and equally, is something we take as a given.  Back in the early days of the church, in 431 A.D., this dogma of our faith was ho...
Read more