Nativity of St. John the Baptist (C)

Is 49:1-6
Ps 139:1-3, 13-14, 14-15
Acts 13:22-26
Lk 1:57-66, 80

A new baby in the family! A birth creates a lot of excitement among family, friends and neighbors. Today’s Gospel tells the story of a birth that attracted a lot of attention!

Saint Luke precedes the birth story of Jesus with an equally wondrous birth: that of John the Baptist. An angelic annunciation prepares the way, as the Angel Gabriel visits Zechariah to tell him that his wife Elizabeth is with child. The doubting father finds himself unable to speak, until the scene described in today’s Gospel. There, Zechariah confirms in writing that the newborn child will be called John. Zechariah’s tongue is loosed, and he begins to praise God, causing fear and marveling among all who hear the story.

Today’s feast honors John as a forerunner of Christ. John’s birth, announced by the angel, and greeted with acclaim and promise, parallels that of Jesus. The story of Zechariah’s miraculous recovery of speech, along with what we know about John’s career as a herald of the Messiah, reminds us that—in our own time—we’re called by the Church to what the late Pope John Paul the Second called a “new evangelization.” John’s role in the story of Christ affirms our own vocation as evangelizers.

Scripture:

•I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6)

•Truly you have formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13)

•Behold, one is coming after me (Acts 13:25)

•“What, then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. (Luke 1:66)

Reflection:

•How did John the Baptist fulfill his calling?

•God formed you to be unique in all the world. Have you found how you are to serve God in this world?

•How will living your life by sharing your gifts with God’s creation change your world? Your being?

Believing in the dream of heaven on earth, we live with the confidence that heaven is not only at the end of the journey but accompanies us along the way. At some time or another we have all glimpsed the new creation. Our response? Praise wells up within us. Praise assures us that we live daily in the radiance of God; it gives us a strength to choose a freedom, a greater sense of giftedness, and an awareness of our bond with humanity and creation. Our willingness to sing and dance an alleluia—this is the sign of life in the Spirit! This is our ongoing prayer as it was for Francis.