June 24, 2007 Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist

  2007년 6월 24일 성 요한 세례자 탄생 대축일

 

 제1독서

이사야서 49,1-6
1 섬들아, 내 말을 들어라. 먼 곳에 사는 민족들아, 귀를 기울여라. 주님께서 나를 모태에서부터 부르시고, 어머니 배 속에서부터 내 이름을 지어 주셨다. 2 그분께서 내 입을 날카로운 칼처럼 만드시고, 당신의 손 그늘에 나를 숨겨 주셨다. 나를 날카로운 화살처럼 만드시어 당신의 화살 통 속에 감추셨다. 3 그분께서 나에게 말씀하셨다. “너는 나의 종이다. 이스라엘아, 너에게서 내 영광이 드러나리라.”
4 그러나 나는 말하였다. “나는 쓸데없이 고생만 하였다. 허무하고 허망한 것에 내 힘을 다 써 버렸다. 그러나 내 권리는 나의 주님께 있고, 내 보상은 나의 하느님께 있다.”
5 이제 주님께서 말씀하신다. 그분께서는 야곱을 당신께 돌아오게 하시고, 이스라엘이 당신께 모여들게 하시려고, 나를 모태에서부터 당신 종으로 빚어 만드셨다. 나는 주님의 눈에 소중하게 여겨졌고, 나의 하느님께서 나의 힘이 되어 주셨다.
6 그분께서 말씀하신다. “네가 나의 종이 되어 야곱의 지파들을 다시 일으키고, 이스라엘의 생존자들을 돌아오게 하는 것만으로는 충분하지 않다. 나의 구원이 땅 끝까지 다다르도록 나는 너를 민족들의 빛으로 세운다.”

  

  제2독서

사도행전 13,22-26
그 무렵 바오로가 말하였다.
“하느님께서는 22 조상들에게 다윗을 임금으로 세우셨습니다. 그에 대해서는 ‘내가 이사이의 아들 다윗을 찾아냈으니, 그는 내 마음에 드는 사람으로 나의 뜻을 모두 실천할 것이다.’ 하고 증언해 주셨습니다.
23 이 다윗의 후손 가운데에서, 하느님께서는 약속하신 대로 예수님을 구원자로 이스라엘에 보내셨습니다. 24 이분께서 오시기 전에 요한이 이스라엘 온 백성에게 회개의 세례를 미리 선포하였습니다.
25 요한은 사명을 다 마칠 무렵 이렇게 말하였습니다. ‘너희는 내가 누구라고 생각하느냐? 나는 그분이 아니다. 그분께서는 내 뒤에 오시는데, 나는 그분의 신발 끈을 풀어 드리기에도 합당하지 않다.’
26 형제 여러분, 아브라함의 후손 여러분, 그리고 하느님을 경외하는 여러분, 이 구원의 말씀이 바로 우리에게 파견되셨습니다.”

  

 복음

루카 1,57-66.80
57 엘리사벳은 해산달이 차서 아들을 낳았다. 58 이웃과 친척들은 주님께서 엘리사벳에게 큰 자비를 베푸셨다는 것을 듣고, 그와 함께 기뻐하였다.
59 여드레째 되는 날, 그들은 아기의 할례식에 갔다가 아버지의 이름을 따서 아기를 즈카르야라고 부르려 하였다.
60 그러나 아기 어머니는 “안 됩니다. 요한이라고 불러야 합니다.” 하고 말하였다.
61 그들은 “당신의 친척 가운데에는 그런 이름을 가진 이가 없습니다.” 하며, 62 그 아버지에게 아기의 이름을 무엇이라 하겠느냐고 손짓으로 물었다.
63 즈카르야는 글 쓰는 판을 달라고 하여 ‘그의 이름은 요한’이라고 썼다. 그러자 모두 놀라워하였다. 64 그때에 즈카르야는 즉시 입이 열리고 혀가 풀려 말을 하기 시작하면서 하느님을 찬미하였다.
65 그리하여 이웃이 모두 두려움에 휩싸였다. 그리고 이 모든 일이 유다의 온 산악 지방에서 화제가 되었다 66 소문을 들은 이들은 모두 그것을 마음에 새기며, “이 아기가 대체 무엇이 될 것인가?” 하고 말하였다. 정녕 주님의 손길이 그를 보살피고 계셨던 것이다.
80 아기는 자라면서 정신도 굳세어졌다. 그리고 그는 이스라엘 백성 앞에 나타날 때까지 광야에서 살았다.

 

 

 

 June 24, 2007

 Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
Mass during the Day

 

Reading 1
Is 49:1-6

Hear me, O coastlands,
listen, O distant peoples.
The LORD called me from birth,
from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword
and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.
He made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me,
Israel, through whom I show my glory.

Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
yet my reward is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God.
For now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15

R. (14) I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
O LORD, you have probed me, you know me:
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R. I praise you for I am wonderfully made.
Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.
R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
My soul also you knew full well;
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.
R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.

Reading II
Acts 13:22-26

In those days, Paul said:
“God raised up David as king;
of him God testified,
I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart;
he will carry out my every wish.
From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise,
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.
John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance
to all the people of Israel;
and as John was completing his course, he would say,
‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he.
Behold, one is coming after me;
I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’

“My brothers, sons of the family of Abraham,
and those others among you who are God-fearing,
to us this word of salvation has been sent.”

Gospel
Lk 1:57-66, 80

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child
she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
“No. He will be called John.”
But they answered her,
“There is no one among your relatives who has this name.”
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,”
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
“What, then, will this child be?”
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.
 

 

 

 Commentary

 

 
John is the fiercest and most devoted to God among the prophets. He belonged to God from the time he was conceived in his mother's womb. The words that came out of his mouth were the words of God. His message was to root up and tear down nations and then to build and to plant the new kingdom of God and his children on the earth. He lived in expectation, waiting, looking, being alert in every moment for the presence and the coming power of God to reveal itself. Do we live investigating the times and circumstances that the Spirit of God gives to us with any of the intensity and zeal of John? Do we appreciate what the prophets have done for us-along with so many others that have brought us to birth in God? John was about turning people towards God, bringing them to the practice of the wisdom of the just, and preparing a people for the Lord. May we pray for prophets like this in every nation and community.

 

 

 PRE-PRAYERING

When I was young, all grade school kids had to attend the nine a.m. Sunday mass. The best part of going, was arriving early and playing games of chasing around, hide-and-seek; kind of preparing for the Eucharist. At eight fifty-five, fun ended and silently, reluctantly we headed for our assigned pews. Well we were there any way.

There is much chasing around during our journeys of our days and weeks. As God was watching over us during our pre-mass warm-ups (and so were the Dominican Sisters) God is doing more than watching.

We can prepare - warm up - for the celebration of the Eucharist by stopping to look and listen for signs and words of life and love. We bring our selves to celebrate the whole story of God’s laboring for the well-being of those same selves. We pray with what brings us to our knees in joy, or sorrow, delight or pain.

REFLECTION

Today is known as “Little Christmas”. It is the birth of the sixth-month older cousin of Jesus. There were some who believed John to be the Christ, but the Gospels make it quite clear that his destiny was to be the forerunner and baptizer of the Christ.

There is nothing known or written about any friendship they enjoyed after their womb-to-womb meeting during Mary’s visitation to John’s mother, Elizabeth. John is pictured as having a light to shine toward and upon Jesus, but as the Evangelist John writes in his first chapter, “He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.” John 1, 8

We hear the prophet Isaiah speak of a “servant” of God in our First Reading today. The “servant” could have been a person or the nation Israel. From the beginning God called, fashioned and offered this “servant” an important place in extending the glory and kingship of God. The “servant” hears that he is not to toil merely for the restoration and union of Israel, but to open the way for the light to the “nations” that is beyond the borders of God’s chosen people. Salvation is going to come to all the world and this “servant” is going to toil for the coming of that salvation.

Notice in today’s Second Reading, a little historical review about how God has been preparing for the light of Jesus. Here too John is saying of himself that He is not the Christ. Again, this was a large controversy in the early days after the Resurrection.

The Gospel has to do with the birth of John, but even more, his naming. Elizabeth and Zechariah are advanced in age and so the lack of fertility was seen to be a kind of curse. She is found to be pregnant and when her time for deliverance arrives he is born. All come to marvel and give God praise. The neighbors are from the hill country of Judea. They expect his naming at the circumcision to follow custom. His father, in the previous verses, is struck speechless by God for his questioning.

His mother announces his name to be John and his father is given a tablet and writes the same. Upon this writing, his speech returns giving thanks and praise to God. After the naming, John grows up and is the man in waiting for God’s time to be fulfilled.

Luke deliberately makes strong parallels between the births of John and Jesus. Being barren and being a virgin allows for a divine intervention. Gabriel appears to Zechariah announcing the “good news” of his being given a son. The annunciation to Mary of her having a son is presented by an angel and both are accompanied by prophetic words about their names and their missions. Both Mary and Zechariah have the same questions about how this was going to be since advanced age and Mary’s not being wedded would prevent conception. Mary is given comfort and a kind of proof by her hearing that Elizabeth is with child for now six months and Mary can visit her and see for herself. Zechariah leaves his holy duties in the temple without the power to speak.

Names are given and all the people returned home. The neighbors leave here and the shepherds in Bethlehem, praising, marveling, and wondering at what they have seen and heard. Both Mary and Zechariah are presented as singing out in similar words a blessing to God for all that He has done for Israel and for all the nations.

John is born to be the front-runner, the advance-publicity man for the coming on stage of Jesus. We are the co-runners who have been radiated by His Light and extend that Light to the ends of our neighborhoods, the end of our abilities, and to the end of our time. Zechariah, Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary were all mighty little in their times, but all were born with their little-to-do mighty things in their time, for all time. We are “servants” whom the Lord has known before we were born and in our life’s time we give birth to Him according to our individual personalities and history. John was born to make known the coming of Jesus. We are born for the remembering of His life, death, and Resurrection. We are born to announce that He lives and gives new birth and life to all the nations.

“Through the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us.” Lk. 1, 78

 

 by
Larry Gillick, S.J.
Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality

 

 "For the hand of the Lord was with him"

 

 The last verses in the last book of the Old Testament, taken from the prophet Malachi, speak of the Lord’s messenger, the prophet Elijah who will return to “turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers” (Mal. 4:6). We see the beginning of the fulfillment of this word when the Angel Gabriel announces to Zechariah the marvelous birth and mission of John the Baptist (Luke 1:17). When this newly born child is about to be named, as customary on the eighth day, his relatives quibble over what name to give him. (Don’t relatives today often do the same when time comes for naming a newborn?) This child, however has been named from above!  And Elizabeth is firm in her faith and determined to see that God be glorified through this child.  The name John means "the Lord is gracious".  In the birth of John and in the birth of Jesus the Messiah we see the grace of God breaking forth into a world broken by sin and death and without hope. John’s miraculous birth shows the mercy and favor of God in preparing his people for the coming of its Lord and Savior, the Christ.

John the Baptist's life was fueled by one burning passion -- to point others to Jesus Christ and to the coming of his kingdom. Scripture tells us that John was filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb (Luke 1:15, 41) by Christ himself, whom Mary had just conceived by the Holy Spirit.  When Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth John lept in her womb as they were filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:41). The fire of the Spirit dwelt in John and made him the forerunner of the coming Messiah.  John was led by the Spirit into the wilderness prior to his ministry where he was tested and grew in the word of God.  John's clothing was reminiscent of the prophet Elijah (see Kings 1:8).  John broke the prophetic silence of the previous centuries when he began to speak the word of God to the people of Israel.  His message was similar to the message of the Old Testament prophets who chided the people of God for their unfaithfulness and who tried to awaken true repentance in them.  Among a people unconcerned with the things of God, it was his work to awaken their interest, unsettle them from their complacency, and arouse in them enough good will to recognize and receive Christ when he came.

What is the significance of John the Baptist and his message for our lives? When God acts to save us he graciously fills us with his Holy Spirit and makes our faith "alive" to his promises. Do you make your life an offering to God, along with your family, and all that you possess?  God wants to fill us with his glory all the days of our lives, from birth through death. Renew the offering of your life to God and give him thanks for his mercy and favor towards you.

"Lord Jesus, you bring hope and salvation to a world lost in sin and suffering. Let your grace refresh and restore your people today in the hope and joy of your great
victory over sin and death."

Psalm 139:1-3,13-15

1 O LORD, thou hast searched me and known me!
2 Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up; thou discernest my thoughts from afar.
3 Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
13 For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful. Wonderful are thy works!  Thou knowest me right well;
15 my frame was not hidden from thee, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.

 

 From the Fourth Century, this festival was celebrated in East and West; it is placed six months before the birth of Jesus.    St. Augustine remarked that the days start growing shorter, with less light, after the Birth of John, whereas the days grow longer, with more light, after the birth of Jesus.
The first reading describes the call of Jeremiah to be a prophet.   God knew him and called him while he was still in his mother’s womb.   He called him to be his spokesman to the world.   Jeremiah must not object that he is too young to be prophet, nor that he doesn’t know how to speak:  God who calls will also empower!  
The second reading tells of those who came before Jesus.   They bore witness to him.   They  told that the Suffering Servant of the Lord, who is also Messiah, would suffer in order to enter his glory.  John was to be the final herald of the coming of the Messiah.
Luke’s gospel gives an intricate parallel between the birth of Jesus and that of John the Baptist.    There was an annunciation to Zechariah in the splendor of the temple that he and Elizabeth would have a son; the annunciation of the angel to Mary was in the quiet of her home.   Zechariah did not believe; Mary believed and proclaimed that she was the handmaid of the Lord.   The stories meet in the Visitation, when John in his mother’s womb leaps at the presence of Jesus in Mary’s womb.   John will become the herald of the Lord to call people back from their sins; yet he will eventually give was to Jesus.
   Jesus said that John the Baptist was the greatest person born to woman, but that the least in the kingdom of God was greater than he!   This should tell us something of our dignity.  

 

 

Homily from Father James Gilhooley

 

Jesus' question "Who do the crowds say I am?" had as much relevancy down the centuries as it did when it was first asked in the northeast corner of Palestine. Many have attempted to answer that question. In fact, each Christian of every age must give an answer. We must decide, as someone has suggested, whether we are His disciples or just His fans.
    
Eugene Boylan called Him this tremendous lover.
    
Francis Thompson declared Him the hound of heaven.
   
Someone said that no matter where one hides, He pursues.
    
Teilhard de Chardin named Him the omega point.
    
William O'Malley says He is the sacrament of the sacraments.
   
To paraphrase Seamus Heaney, He is the lure let down to tempt the soul to rise.
   
Roger Garaudy writes, "His whole life conveys one message. Anyone at any moment can start a new future."
   
Dostoyevsky declared, "If anyone proved to me He was outside the truth...then I would prefer to remain with Him than the truth."
    
Mark Van Doren teaches that He was the most ruthless of men. He declares that He was not like priests who try to be one of the crowd.
   
Bach said He was the joy of man's desiring.
    
Dietrich Bonhoeffer declared prophetically that when He calls someone, He calls that person to die.
   
Harry Emerson Fosdick stated He calls not for the acceptance of a theory but the assumption of a task. He says that He was a Man of His own time speaking to His own generation but He has proved to be a Man of all time speaking to all generations. He remains not primarily an object of speculation but an eternal doer.
   
Newsweek magazine charged that for believers He is the hinge of history, the point at which eternity intersects with time.
    
One unknown says He will remain discontent until all people are fed, housed, and clothed.
   
Manson claimed His aim was not to make God an article of faith but an object of faith.
    
To paraphrase James Barter, He remains forever the sharp stone bruising the soles of our feet.
    
One pilgrim has responded that He is God spelled out in language that people can understand.
    
Charles Peguy pronounces that He does not want much of us - only our hearts.
    
Frederick Buechner asserts that He is the way. The way out. The only way that matters.
    
Pope John Paul II calls Him a mirror in which we can see who we are. He shows us our human possibilities and potentials.
    
To paraphrase R. Inman, He never strove to explain His vision. He simply invited people to stand by Him and see for themselves.
    
Soren Kierkegaard charges that He objects to our taking the strong wine of the Gospel and turning it into lemonade. He called Him the contemporary eternal.
    
Michael Warnke speaks, "Some people ask me, `Don't you think He is just a crutch?' Well, mabye so. But when you're
crippled, that ain't bad."
    
A writer declared He possessed the ability of changing a room by just showing up.
    
Boris Pasternak exulted, "He came...and at that moment gods and nations ceased to be and MAN CAME INTO BEING."
    
One worthy has pronounced that He remains forever the grain of sand that upsets the world's machinery.
    
Thomas Geoghegan said His treatment of women was more of a miracle than the loaves and fishes.
    
Another writes that though He preached to thousands, His attention remained on the one - one sheep, one penny, one widow's son, one little girl, one sparrow, you, me.
    
An unknown has written that were He to come back today, we would destroy Him.
    
C.S. Lewis says, "You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God or else a madman or something
worse.
   
Down through the centuries, He has been the target of countless assassinations. Though killed a score of times, He never dies.  He never wrote His memoirs. He never asked anyone to write about Him. Yet, His life has prompted more biographies than any other person in history.  In this third millennium, nearly one third of the world's population claim to be His followers.  To borrow Winston Churchill's language, He remains forever a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

 

 

Homily from Father Joseph Pellegrino
http://www.st.ignatius.net/pastor.html

 Raised up to Proclaim the Presence of the Lord

Today’s feast day is called the Birth of John the Baptist. It is actually the top order of feasts in the Church, a solemnity, and as such, when it comes on a Sunday it replaces the celebration of the Sunday of Ordinary time.

Today is June 24th. The Church places the feast of the Birth of John the Baptist on the 24th for a particular reason. We just celebrated the summer solstice last Thursday, correct? That means that from now on there will be a shorter period of daylight every day. Christmas, the Birth of Jesus, is celebrated on December 25th, a few days after the winter solstice. From Christmas on the days are longer in daylight. John, like the daylight on the day we celebrate his birth, must decrease, while Jesus, like the daylight of the time we celebrate his birth, must increase.

We learn about the birth of John the Baptist in the Gospel of Luke, the same Gospel that gives us the greatest detail of the events leading to Jesus’ birth. The Gospel of Luke begins in the Holy of Holies of the Temple of Jerusalem with an angel, Gabriel, announcing to the priest Zechariah that Elizabeth, his wife, was going to have a child who will be a prophet of God in spirit of the great prophet Elijah. Zechariah questions the angel and is struck mute for his insolence. He does not speak again until after the child’s birth when he names the child John, as he was told to do by the angel.

Meanwhile, in stark contrast to the splendor of Jerusalem, or the importance of the man Zechariah chosen to enter the Holy of Holies, the angel Gabriel appears of a seemingly insignificant young girl named Mary. Mary agrees to allowing God to work his wonders through her and is overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. She travels to assist Elizabeth, a young pregnant girl sharing her joy with an older pregnant lady. At the presence of Jesus within Mary, John stirs in his mother’s womb.

We can justly surmise that John was born in an upscale home with great celebration, parties, etc. Again, in stark contrast, Jesus is born in a stable without Mary’s family and friends in attendance. But regardless of his background, it is John who must humble himself before Jesus. John becomes the voice in the desert preparing for Jesus and pointing out the Lord, the Lamb of God.

The Gospel of Luke is fascinated with the way in which God raises up the lowly. A humble young girl becomes the Mother of the Son of God. Jesus, known as the carpenter’s son, becomes the one to whom the great prophet John points. John, the son of the priest Zechariah, demonstrates his greatness in his humility. He proclaims the presence of the Lord, and then, he must decrease so the Lord might increase.

We also are called to be a voice proclaiming the presence of the Lord in the world. At the same time, we cannot allow our own pride to cloud the message of Jesus coming. We are called to be a voice proclaiming the presence of Jesus in a world that has little use for a Savior. We live in a materialistic society that is convinced it can buy happiness. We live in a busy society that is convinced that success is dependent on the number of things that are accomplished in a given day. We live in a depressed society that hides its meaningless existence behind the clutter of noise. Noise, things to do, things to buy all become ends rather than means. Many people live as though they don’t need Jesus, but at the same time they recognize that they can’t find happiness.

We are called to convince people that they are looking in the wrong places for happiness. Happiness is a gift of God. It cannot be purchased. Nor can our desire for happiness be hidden in meaningless noise. We are called to point to Jesus as the source of fulfilment in life, as the one whose life can fill us with a joy for living.

At the same time, we are called to point to Jesus, not to ourselves. People who hold themselves up before others as examples of how others should live their Christianity are more concerned with others noticing them than they are that others recognize Jesus Christ. It is easy for us all to fall into this trap. We allow our pride to convince us that we have climbed a spiritual mountain and then we are convinced that others can benefit from experiencing our holiness. We do not have the right to deflect the attention that belongs to the Lord over to ourselves. Furthermore, we are flirting with disaster if we become so puffed up in ourselves that we look down on others.

John the Baptist knew who he was and what his position was in the world. He was just a voice, a voice in the desert pointing out the way of the Lord. He never got bogged down in the status of his birth. He never expected people to look at him and find a dedicated servant of God. He only pointed to Jesus and then recognized that he must decrease so others can appreciate the presence of the Lord in the world.

Through the intercession of St. John the Baptist may we have the humility to point only to the Lord and never to ourselves. And may we have the courage to point out the Lord to a world that seeks escape from its doldrums.

 

Homily from Father Phil Bloom
http://www.geocities.com/seapadre_1999/

 

 Fearfully, Wonderfully Made
(June 24, 2007)
Bottom line: The marvelous manner we are formed in our mother's womb suggests that God has sketched a destiny for each of us. We see those two dimensions illustrated in the Birth of John the Baptist.

Today we celebrate the Birth of St. John the Baptist. It is such an important feast that it replaced the ordinary Sunday readings and prayers. In the readings we can see two dimensions: one natural and the other supernatural.

Psalm 139 expresses the natural dimension of human birth: "Truly you have formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb." At the beginning of the third millennium we have some advantages in appreciating that verse. All of us have seen those beautiful pictures - and even videos - of pre-born children. And all of have at least heard of the human genome project: How teams of scientists worked for years to map out the basic information package, which we have from the first moment of our existence. The human genome, they tell us, contains contains more information than a complete set of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Much more: one science writer stated, "The genome is like a vast string of unpunctuated letters--long enough to fill 13 sets of the Encyclopedia Britannica." (See: Your Body Manual THE HUMAN GENOME.) Shakespeare said, "What a piece of work is man!" Or as today's Psalm says: we are fearfully, wonderfully made.

The natural dimension of human existence is marvelous, beyond imagining. But there is something more. Isaiah speaks about God calling us from birth, knowing our name from our mother's womb. To know someone's name implies relationship and purpose. We see that in the Gospel. on the eighth day, on the day of circumcision they asked Zechariah what name he would give his son. He surprised them by writing, "John." The name means, "The grace of God" or "God Is gracious." It speaks of the child's destiny: to prepare the way for the Messiah by proclaiming a baptism of repentance.

You and I, of course, do not have such an exalted destiny. Yet God did know our name from before we were born - and he has sketched out a plan for each of us. May we be like John who wholeheartedly embraced his destiny. It was no bed of roses: John suffered deprivation, lonliness, hard labor, imprisonment and a martyr's death. Yet he accepted his calling. You and I have suffered much less - and perhaps have resisted our calling. If that is the case, then we need to hear John's invitation to repentance. It is not too late. God is gracious.

 

  Homily from Father Andrew M. Greeley
http://www.agreeley.com/homilies.html

 Background:
Though he appears often in the New Testament, John the Baptist is still a man of mystery. We see him through the lens of the early Christians with only a hint that the Baptist’s disciples would argue that he was superior to Jesus. But the Baptist’s followers were lost in the waves of history, so we know very little about them or about him, save what the Gospels. Were they really relatives? The question is not relevant. Jesus did seek out John’s baptism, though such ceremonies of renewal were common in the Second Temple era. John, we should be confident, was contemporary of Jesus whose life and work reflected the need of that time for a new era. John’s plea for metanoia ? change and renewal ? anticipated Jesus. But John did not claim as Jesus did that the kingdom of heaven was at hand.

Story:
Once upon a time, there was this parish director of music, a young woman just out of musical school. She found a children’s choir which everyone loved, an adult choir which no one liked because they sang too long, a scola cantorum which sang Gregorian chant, which some people liked a lot, and a teenage choir that “jammed for Jesus,” which the young people liked totally, and they were by their own admission the only ones that counted. She was also going on for her master’s degree and had a boy friend, who was a baseball pitcher without a future because he played for the Cubs. The pastor was delighted with the young woman’s talent and work ethic. After her first year he recommended to the financial council that she receive a fifty percent raise because, as he said, “She works harder than any priest I know.” We’re not considering a raise, they said. She’s only a kid. Let’s not give her a raise till she asks for one. If we do pay her more, she’ll be back in two years for more. More likely she will be out of here, said the pastor. This is a case of commutative justice said the pastor, who was kind of old and remembered these words from his social ethics courses. They still said no. He gave her the raise. Finance committee complained to the bishop who said that if she didn’t get a raise he’d hire her for the Cathedral. That was that.

 

Homily from Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe,Pa
http://benedictine.stvincent.edu/archabbey/Weeklywords/Weeklywords.html

 

 Gospel Summary

Luke introduces his gospel narrative of Jesus with the events surrounding the birth of John the Baptist. In prior verses related to our passage, we learn that a priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth have no children, both being well advanced in years. While Zechariah is performing his priestly duty in the sanctuary of the temple, an angel appears and says to him that Elizabeth will bear a son who was to be called John. But because Zechariah did not believe, and questioned the angel, he became unable to speak. After Elizabeth did give birth to a son, Zechariah wrote on a tablet, "John is his name." Immediately his tongue was freed and he spoke, blessing God. The child (whose name means "Yahweh has shown favor") grew and became strong in spirit for he was to become a prophet of the Most High.

Life Implications

The unbreakable bond between the Jewish people and the people of the new covenant in God's plan of salvation is clearly evident in today's feast. It is from the Jewish people that John the Baptist, Mary and Jesus are born so that the tender mercy of God will visit all people. It is from the Jewish people that the church receives the revelation of the most fundamental truths of faith. In the words of the Second Vatican Council, the church continues to draw "sustenance from the root of that good olive tree onto which have been grafted the wild olive branches of the Gentiles" (Nostra Aetate, #4).

The most fundamental truth from which we draw sustenance is that God is present in human history as one who extends to us the favor of merciful love. We also learn from the Jewish people that the mystery of divine presence is beyond comprehension. The "I AM" of the divine name is a name beyond names (Ex 3:14 and Jn 8:58). A child born of aged Abraham and Sarah or a bush that burns but is not consumed before Moses signals a presence beyond human understanding and control.

It is precisely because the mystery of the divine presence is beyond comprehension that the decision to trust or not to trust is inevitable for every one of us. Zechariah, upon hearing the outlandish words of the Lord's angel, did not trust and became mute, unable to speak a word (Lk 1:20). Luke immediately afterwards tells us that the Virgin Mary, too, was not able to understand the promise of the Lord's angel. However, her response "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" is asked out of trust, not out of doubt. The mystery even of human friendship can deal with a thousand difficulties and questions that are asked out of trust, but is deeply wounded by even one question asked out of doubt.

To receive the gift of recognizing the divine presence through faith calls forth a wholehearted response. The essence of that response is not only to trust, but also to bless God with praise and gratitude. When Zechariah wrote on the tablet "John is his name" immediately his mouth was opened and he spoke a blessing "because of the tender mercy of our God by which the daybreak from on high will visit us to shine on those who sit in darkness and death's shadow, to guide our feet into the path of peace" (Lk 1:68-79). Mary's canticle of praise and gratitude in response to the favor of divine presence is one of the most beautiful blessings of the entire biblical tradition (Lk 1:46-55).

Today's feast celebrating the birth of John the Baptist reminds us to pray again for the faith to recognize the divine presence in our lives, to trust in God's tender mercy with an undivided heart, and to bless God always and everywhere with a glad and grateful heart. Further, in the difficult circumstances that life brings to us all, only as a grateful ｅxpression of trust that God's will is to love us can we with confidence pray, "Thy will be done."

 

Homily from Father Cusick
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html  

 By Father Kevin M. Cusick

Our way as Christians is to follow the Lord Jesus, to follow his invitation to ?follow me.? He makes clear that if we would follow Him, we must deny ourselves.

And he said to all, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (LkIf any man would come after me, let him deny himself.

Denying ourselves entails denying what we want so that we can desire instead what God wants. This is always true in the case of wanting something incompatible with God?s will. It can also be true, however, in areas where God?s plan is indifferent as to what we choose, in order that our hearts might become enlarged for God as we learn to love and regard self less. Self denial is part of the advancement of the kingdom of Christ in the world around us which begins within each one of us.

?By virtue of their kingly mission, lay people have the power to uproot the rule of sin within themselves and in the world, by their self-denial and holiness of life (cf. LG 36).? (CCC 943)

Through the ?priesthood of the baptized? we have been given the grace and call to sanctify the world beginning with our own sanctification through self-denial, one of the ways in which we exercise this priesthood shared by all of the baptized.

?It is here that the father of the family, the mother, children, and all members of the family exercise the priesthood of the baptized in a privileged way "by the reception of the sacraments, prayer and thanksgiving, the witness of a holy life, and self-denial and active charity." Thus the home is the first school of Christian life and "a school for human enrichment." Here one learns endurance and the joy of work, fraternal love, generous - even repeated - forgiveness, and above all divine worship in prayer and the offering of one's life.? (CCC 1657)

Whether they are full-time or part-time educators of their children, all parents are called to school their children in the self-mastery that makes self-denial possible.

?Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule. The home is well suited for education in the virtues. This requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment, and self-mastery - the preconditions of all true freedom. Parents should teach their children to subordinate the "material and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones." Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children. By knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will be better able to guide and correct them:

?He who loves his son will not spare the rod. . . . He who disciplines his son will profit by him.

?Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. ?

 

 Homily from Father Alex McAllister SDS
http://www.ctk-thornbury.org.uk/

 Today we celebrate the Birth of John the Baptist; it is a midsummer feast just as the Birth of Christ is a midwinter feast?John being born six months before Christ.

There is a sort of theological logic in this, although some might call it romantic logic (!), in that one of John’s most famous prophesies is that ‘I must decrease and he must increase.’ And it reflects the fact that from midsummer on the days do decrease until the arrival of Christ at Christmas when they increase again.

Besides the fact that this completely ignores the Southern Hemisphere, you might wonder why the feast falls on the 24th rather than 25th June if it is supposed to be six months from the date of Christmas?

The reason lies in the Roman way of counting, which proceeded backward from the first day or Kalends of the following month. Christmas was “the eighth day before the Kalends of January.”

Consequently, the Birth of St John the Baptist was put on the “eighth day before the Kalends of July.” However, since today we use the Germanic way of counting in which June has only thirty days the feast falls on 24th June.

You might wonder about all the trouble over a name we have in our Gospel reading, but names are very important and they were especially significant to the Jewish people and, as we see in the text, everyone felt they had a right to be consulted.

It has been a great joy to us that we have had rather a lot of new babies born in the parish this year. I am sure that the parents have thought very hard about choosing a name for their new child. They want a name that sounds good, a name that means something.

The name John means ‘God will show him favour.’

This is an echo of the Angel’s greeting to Mary: you who enjoy God’s favour. And although John the Baptist lived an extraordinarily ascetical life in the desert and preached an uncompromising message and ended his life in a gory death at the whim of a dancing girl, he certainly did enjoy God’s favour.

He enjoyed God’s favour because he was chosen to play a crucial role in the salvation of the world. He is the bridge between the old and New Testaments and is regarded as one of the highest of the saints.

Everyone in the village assumed that John would be called Zechariah after his father and most likely follow him as a priest in the Temple, but God had other ideas.

There is a good lesson for us here. We often think we know how someone will turn out in life, we often have very firm ideas about what we ourselves will do, but even more often God has other ideas.

John was marked out from his very birth to be the herald of Christ. God has marked each one of us out for work in the world. Maybe we already know where God wants us to go and what he wants us to do, maybe not.

John is the one who brought Baptism into being for the Church and maybe this could give us a clue. Each one of us was baptised, each one of us has made those baptismal promises to reject Satan and to embrace belief in Christ. This is more than a clue to what God wants for us. He has chosen us to be his witnesses in the world.

We can with confidence say that John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament Prophets. In his manner and speech he clearly has something of Jeremiah or Elijah about him.

But you could certainly also say that John the Baptist was the first of the New Testament Prophets, the first of the witnesses to Christ. There is always a need for prophets in the Church and God has not been neglectful in providing them.

One example of a prophet who has come to the fore lately is Cardinal O’Brien. Like his predecessor, Cardinal Winning, he is rather forthright and uncompromising in his speech.

Just a few weeks ago he was in the news speaking up for the unborn child. He got a lot of criticism for his strong language, especially for comparing the number of aborted children in Britain to two Dunblane massacres a day.

Maybe we aren’t all given the same gift of ‘holy brusqueness’ as the Scottish Cardinal, but each of us can make an impact in our own way. Each of us is capable of being a Prophet of the New Testament. Each of us can make an impact for Christ on our neighbours.

As we have seen the name John means God will show him favour. But as we recognise this favour is shown not only to John, it is shown to all of us.

Paul was invited to say a few words in the synagogue of Antioch he stood up and gave the beautiful account of the history of salvation that we heard in the second reading.

And he concluded it by saying to his Jewish brothers: this message of salvation is meant for you. He speaks to the Jews of Antioch but he also speaks to us. This message of salvation is meant for us too.

We receive the salvation Christ won for us but we are also, like John, its heralds. We too proclaim a Baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. We too reject sin and proclaim our belief in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Let us do so in the traditional formula used at Baptism.

 

 Homily from Father Clyde A. Bonar, Ph.D.
Contact Father at cbonar@cfl.rr.com

Introduction

A chore all parents do is pick out a name for their newborn baby. A boy’s name if’s a son; a girl’s name for a daughter.

When relatives and neighbors gathered around at the birth of John the Baptist, everyone thought they would name their son Zechariah, after his father. That would be the Jewish custom. He’d be "little Zechariah."

His mother said, "No, he will be called John." Everyone looked to his father, and Zechariah wrote, "John is his name." God himself had told his parents to name their son "John."

Ways We Identify Ourselves

For us, our names are one way we identify ourselves. Other ways we identify ourselves: our profession, our role in our families. All ways to identify who we are.

Let’s start with our names. Sometimes we don’t like our names. Frank and Mary named their first born son Frank, Frank Junior. When we was growing up, he was "little Frankie." That’s O.K. for a kid. But when he went to register to vote, Frank Junior wrote down his name without the "junior" part. Still living in the same precinct as his father, the clerk would not register a second Frank. Junior told his dad, "You go and change your registration, call yourself Frank Senior." As a full grown man, Junior was not going to be "junior" for the rest of his life.

So important how we identify ourselves. We add titles to our names. Often our title becomes our identity. At work, there’s the boss. At school, the principle, or the dean. When our tooth hurts, we go to our dentist. To have our will made out, we visit our lawyer. Each of these people has a name: James or Sally or William or Rebecca. But, their personal name, their individuality, recedes into the background; their profession becomes their identity for us.

Same thing happens with our age. In our families, grandpa and grandma are just grandpa and grandma. Unless both grandparents are at a family gathering. only then is a name added, grandpa Mike or grandpa Bill. The baby of the family is always the baby. Or, if we are the third of six, talk turns to how being the middle child affects our personality.

Names and labels, we use them to identify ourselves and those we know. Name or profession or birth order. Categories, niches to help us know who a person is.

Prophet of the Most High

Today we celebrate the Nativity of John the Baptist. His name is John, he’s a prophet, and an only child.

First, there’s his name. In Hebrew, the name John means "God is gracious." By his very name, John would be identified with God, a God who is merciful, a God full of love.

No doubt John the Baptist was God’s own man. His birth was announced by an angel; his conception was a miracle. For so many years Zechariah and Elizabeth had prayed for a son. Now old, they had given up hope. Then, one day while Zechariah is doing his priestly duties in the temple an angel tells him his wife Elizabeth will have a son.

The angel told Zechariah that his son John would be filled with the Holy Spirit. And, so it was. When Mary came to visit her cousin Elizabeth, John, still in his mother’s womb, felt the presence of Christ and leapt for joy. John, whose name means "God is gracious."

A second way we identify John the Baptist ? he’s a prophet. Called "prophet of the Most High in Luke’s Gospel (!:76), John the Baptist acted like a prophet. A man sent by God, John’s voice cried out in the wilderness, "Make straight the way of the Lord" (John 1:6-7, 23).

John the Baptist looked every bit the prophet. Tall and lanky, with uncombed hair and a shaggy beard, his skin darkened by the hot, desert sun. He wore a homemade loincloth of camel’s hair, with a girdle of lambskin. He looked as much like a wild man as like a holy man.

When he preached, it was fire and brimstone. You "brood of vipers," he’s say, how cunning you are, like poisonous snakes. Repent, judgment day is coming. Come, be baptized. John the Baptist would shout, Shape up or God will toss you into the everlasting fire of hell. Crowds of people came to be baptized. John was "the baptizer."

John the Baptist, a great prophet. God’s man from before he was born, and for his whole life. The holy man from the desert.

"He Must Increase"

The question is: How do we identify ourselves. Besides our names and our professions, we call ourselves Christians. How do Christians act? John the Baptist said, "He must increase, but I must decrease" ( John 3:30). The Baptist always pointed to Christ. How do we point to Christ so that Christ may increase?

To be a Christian means to put God first. Christ asks for a radical re-orientation of our lives, to become God-centered. The less we are self-centered, the more we are God-centered, the more Christ increases.

Here’s the difference. First, we’ll talk about Jane. Very much self-centered, Jane’s house is a mess. Like a spoiled child, Jane drops her cloths where she takes them off. Her husband picks them up, he puts her dirty clothes in the laundry hamper. When visitors come, her children clean the house. Because, the kids know, mom won’t run the vacuum, certainly not do any dusting. Jane, self-centered.

By contrast, Ruth is God-centered. God said, "love your neighbor as yourself," and Ruth does. When robbed at the ATM machine, Ruth said, let the robbers go, they must need the money more than I do. When her teenagers brought home friends, everyone was welcome, for a meal, for sleeping overnight. Ruth, God-centered, always giving, always loving.

The God-centered put God first, and Christ increases.

Another trait of Christians, a readiness to suffer. The suffering of Christians began in the early church. The Jewish people kicked followers of Christ out of the synagogue, the Roman Empire persecuted Christians.

Calling sinners to repentance got John in trouble with Herod Antipas. Herod had married Herodias, the divorced wife of Herod’s brother. The Baptist told the king, it’s the same as living with a married woman. Herod had John’s head brought in on a platter.

These days, Christians still face opposition. Take the pro-life struggle. Christians stand in the rain, endure the hot sun to picket abortion clinics. Neighbor shouting at neighbor. Even violence at times. We take up the cross, we line the streets to save the unborn.

Other struggles are really just a nuisance. Like for a priest to get a hospital call at two in the morning. Whatever the reason: a car accident, a heart attack, a sudden turn for the worse, and the hospital calls for a priest to anoint a person. The priest gets up and goes, a night’s sleep lost. But, care and love given to a person in pain.

We call ourselves Christians. Each and every day we Christians are called to be ever more God-centered.

Conclusion

John the Baptist was the prophet preparing the way for the Lord. Even before Christ died on the cross, John took up the cross, felt the wrath of Herod as his fiery preaching called a sin a sin. John totally centered himself on God, so that Christ may increase.

Our call, to be the good Christian. To be God’s man, God’s woman, to follow Christ, to be totally centered on God.