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2012년 6월24일 일요일 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 땅끝까지 다다르도록 나는 너를 민족들의 빛으로 세운다.”
제2독서
사도행전. 13,22-26
그 무렵 바오로가 말하였다.
“하느님께서는 조상들에게 22 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, 2012
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
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
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
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.
The child grew and became strong in spirit,
and he was in the desert until the day
of his manifestation to Israel.
the bamboo tree
John lived in the desert until the
day he appeared publicly. Luke 1:80
Joel Weldon is called a "legend in
the speaking profession." One of
his talks is called "The Chinese
Bamboo Tree." He says it's seed
it takes 5 years it to sprout out of
the soil. Once it does, grows 90
feet tall in 6 weeks. He explains
that during the 5 years of apparent
inaction, the seed has been put-
ting down a vast root system. It is
this vast root system that makes it
possible for the plant to grow 90
feet in 6 short weeks.
This story explains why John
spent 30 years in the desert.
He was growing a powerful him-
self for for the difficult task of
getting the people of Israel to
repent and prepare for the coming
of Jesus
How am I preparing for coming of
Jesus in glory at the end of time?
None of prepare to fail. We just
fail to prepare. Author unknown
http://www.franciscanretreats.net/
Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist. Making today a Solemnity would indicate the regard the Church has for St. John the Baptist.
John’s whole purpose as the last of the prophets was to announce the coming of the Messiah. The Son of God himself was coming to live among us and raise us to a new way of life. John was excited about being part of this. We read in another place in the Scriptures that when Mary, pregnant with Jesus, came to visit Elizabeth, pregnant with John, and the two mothers-to-be met, John leaped in his mother’s womb. We failed to find a real satisfactory explanation for this in a homily not too long ago. Maybe the reason is as simple as his being excited at the arrival of the Messiah. Later on, John was also excited to ascertain that Jesus was really present when he sent his disciples to make sure.
Perhaps celebrating this Solemnity today can also help rekindle the fires of our own excitement at preaching and making known the values of Jesus in our corner of the world as priest, mother, father, worker, student, parishioner – whatever we might be. Enthusiasm is an important virtue for us no matter who we are or what we are doing.
May the life-saving message of John keep us all excited in our ministry to one another
http://www.evangeli.net/gospel/gospel.html
«As the child grew up, he was seen to be strong in the Spirit»
Today, we solemnly celebrate the Nativity of the Baptist. St. John is a man of contrasts: he lives in the silence of the desert, but right from there he appeals to the crowds with convincing voice inviting them to convert; he is humble enough to say he is only the voice, not the Word, but he does not mince his words and dares to accuse and denounce all injustices even to the very king; he urges his disciples to meet with Jesus, but he does not mind rebuking king Herod while he is in prison. Silent and humble, he is also strong and courageous enough to shed his blood. John the Baptist is a great man!, the greatest of them all, as Jesus himself will say in praise, but he is only Christ's precursor.
Perhaps, the secret of his greatness is the realization of knowing he has been chosen by God; this is how the evangelist explains it: «And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel» (Lk 1:80). All his childhood and youth was marked by the understanding of his mission: to provide testimony; which he does by baptizing Christ in the river Jordan, by favorably disposing the crowds for the Lord and, at the end of his life, by shedding his blood in favour of the truth. With our knowledge about John, we could answer the question his contemporary was wondering about: «What will this child be?» (Lk 1:66).
Through the baptism, we have been all chosen and sent to bear witness of the Lord. In an environment of indifference, St. John is a helping example to imitate; St. Augustine says: «Admire John as much as you can for, whom you admire is profitable to Christ. I insist, he is profitable to Christ, not because you offer anything to Him, but because of your being able to progress in Him». In John, his attitude as a Messenger, clearly explicit in attentive prayer to the Spirit, in his fortitude and humility, helps us to establish new horizons of sanctity for us and for our brother.
http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
A few weeks ago, I read about the life of a circus promoter. “What interesting work that must be,” I thought, “always being immersed in the hubbub of the circus, with the animals and the acts, and getting a daily dose of watching the joy on children’s faces.” Then I read on and discovered that he rarely got a chance to actually attend the circus, because he was always out in front, doing the legwork before the circus came to town. By the time the circus arrived, he was already in the next town.
How difficult it must be to promote something that you rarely get to enjoy.
That is the life of Saint John the Baptist. As described in today’s Gospel, even the circumstances of his birth and circumcision showed that John was no ordinary person. Had he desired it, he most likely could have garnered a large following for himself. He could even have competed with Jesus for followers. Instead, he promoted the coming of Jesus, preparing the way for Jesus’ triumphal entry into public ministry. And then, when the time was right, he simply got out of the way and let Jesus speak for Himself.
How many of us struggle to make a difference in the world, when what most people really mean by “making a difference” is calling the shots? John the Baptist was a great saint, but more than doing great deeds, he earned his reputation by experiencing the presence of the Messiah, and inviting others to share that excitement. He pointed the way to Jesus.
This idea of pointing the way fascinates me. It’s not about doing things, it’s about living in such a way that the things we do – no matter how few or many – are done in a sacred way. Saint John the Baptist’s entire life was a testament to sacred living – his ministry, his speech, even his ascetic life in the desert. All of these worked together to do one thing – give him the credibility and passion to speak with authority about the coming of Jesus, the Christ – to promote the Messiah.
So when we feel we are in a spiritual rut, that our lives are just filled with mundane tasks, perhaps we could benefit by asking ourselves, “What is the most credible and authentic way that I can do that next task?” Even something as mundane as taking out the garbage could be the beginning of a transformed life. Though I have some ideas about how one could take out the garbage in a “sacred” way, I’ll leave it to you and the Lord to come up with some of your own ideas.
I’ll simply get out of His way and let Him speak for Himself.
http://www.rc.net/wcc/readings/
"For the hand of the Lord was with him"
Birthdays are a special time to remember and give thanks for the blessings that have come our way. Are you grateful for the ways that God has worked in your life, even from your birth? In many churches of the East and West the birth of John the Baptist is remembered on this day. The friends of Zechariah and Elizabeth marveled at the wonderful way in which God blessed them with a child. This child was destined by God for an important mission. 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” (Malachi 4:6). We see the beginning of the fulfillment of this word when the Angel Gabriel announced to Zechariah the marvelous birth and mission of John the Baptist (Luke 1:17). When this newly born child was about to be named, as customary on the eighth day, his relatives quibbled over what name to give him. (Don’t relatives today often do the same when the 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 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, Jesus Christ.
John the Baptist's life was fueled by one burning passion – to point others to Jesus Christ and to the coming of God's 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 the womb of Elizabeth 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 come "alive" to his promises. Each and every day the Lord is ready to renew us in faith, hope, and love. Like John the Baptist, the Lord invites each of us to make our life a free-will offering to God. 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, despair, 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.
http://www.daily-meditations.org/index2.html
Here he is, the forerunner and the servant of the Lord, the one who came to call us all to make the way straight and perfect. He is a cousin of the Lord and one of the first among the saints. He is the one who indicted Herod and his wife, the one who considered himself unworthy to even undo our Lord's sandal.
Let us then listen to his call to repentance - a call to make the way straight within each of us so that we can come to know the Lord. He is ever the reminder of how crooked our lives can become if we are not focused on the right things. He is ever the reminder of how to look away from the things that the rich and famous love and appreciate instead the things of God.
Today, listen to his voice and welcome back into your heart the Spirit of renewal and joy - the Spirit without whom life cannot be. God used St. John the Baptist to call those lost in sin; if it is appropriate, ask St. John the Baptist to help you this day. He has ever been a servant to the Lord, and as the chief of servants, his greatest delight is to bring all of God's family home.
~ JuandelaCruz
http://www.contemplative.com/weekday_readings.htm
Collects (literal, unofficial translation)
Grant, we ask, almighty God, that your family might enter into the way of salvation, and by following the urgings of the blessed precursor, John, securely come to Him whom he foretold. Who lives and reigns with you. (1st Vespers)
O God who raised up the blessed John the Baptist so that he might prepare a perfect people for Christ the Lord, give to your peoples the grace of spiritual joy, and direct the minds of all the faithful into the way of salvation and peace. Through our Lord. (during the feast)
Meditation
Readings: Isaiah 49.1-6; Acts of the Apostles 13.22-26; Luke 1.57-66, 80
It is the feast of the birth of John the Baptist. It is the feast therefore celebrating God’s gift to us of this particular man in the history of salvation, the unfolding of the events that effected the re-making of the human race.
In the Eastern Church, the two great icons that surround the gate into the sanctuary are those of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist. These two persons of history are significant in our own personal history of transformation into Christ.
If I stand now in the sanctifying grace of transfiguration into Christ it is because John the Baptist fulfilled his personal vocation as an instrument in the establishment of the Kingdom of God.
In his own response to God’s initiative, he not only worked out his own transformation, he was also part of the work initiating the Kingdom. In addition, he stands as a model of that complete surrender into the redeeming grace of Christ Jesus.
In the Second Reading, the seminal sermon of St. Paul proclaiming the Gospel places John the Baptist as the announcer to the presence of the Eternal One incarnate among us.
According to his promise, God brought forth from this man’s descendents Jesus, a savior for Israel. John heralded the coming of Jesus by proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. … It was to us that this message of salvation was sent forth.
Our prayer should imitate the life and mission of John the Baptist. Our gaze in prayer is solely and absolutely on the divine Presence in which dwells the mystery of Jesus within the Trinitarian Godhead. Our prayer is a simple surge of love up into God beyond all the secondary matters of our life. He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm. He made of me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me.
(First Reading)
We should listen to voice of John. Follow his finger as it points outward to the presence of Jesus, the totality of all that is human called to divine union. We would follow his example. Gospel Reading: The child grew up and matured in spirit. He lived in the desert until the day when he made his public appearance in Israel.
This feast is day ripe in the grace of repentance, of renewal, and of conversion. What graces are present within the Body of Christ on this day as the spirit of John the Baptist wafts through the Church’s members!
What ever stage or state we are in, there is the ascent before us, to move out and on up into the fuller participation in the mystery of life in the Trinity. His name is John. Persistent, no denial, write it down on the scroll as Zechariah did, speak it out as Elizabeth did. Hold onto the vocation and model found in John the Baptist. All who heard stored these things up in their hearts, saying, “What will this child be?” and, “Was not the hand of the Lord upon him?”
John, pray for me that I follow more faithfully the way and direct my mind absolutely and singularly into the Presence of Him Who is the Bridegroom and you, the friend of the Bridegroom (John 3. 29-30).
http://goodnews.ie/calendar.php
In celebrating the memory of the saints, the Liturgy doesn’t celebrate their birthday but usually the day of their death. There are only two exceptions: Mary the mother of Jesus, and John the Baptist. John gets preferential treatment in the Liturgy; it gives him two feastdays a year.
His humility has deeply impressed Christians through the ages. Before anyone had heard of Jesus of Nazareth, people were coming distances to see John the Baptist. Yet he pointed to Jesus and away from himself. “He must increase, I must decrease” (Jn 3:30). John actually encouraged his disciples to leave him and follow the Lamb of God.
He seems a grim figure; his dress and his way of speaking were equally rough. Yet the gospels associate him with joy. At the presence of Jesus and Mary, he leapt for joy in his mother’s womb (Lk 1:44); and referring to him, Jesus said, “The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice” (Jn 3:29). The source of his joy was probably the humility that so characterised him. With power and success there comes a certain greedy satisfaction, but humility is spacious enough to contain joy. “My spirit rejoices in God my saviour,” cried Mary, “He looks on his servant in her lowliness” (Lk 1:46-47).
Humility is not a fashionable virtue today; it tends to be seen rather as a condition calling for therapy – a mousey obsequiousness that could probably be traced back to an unhappy childhood. But the mere sight of John the Baptist ought to be enough to dispel that view.
http://www.presentationministries.com/
PROPHET-SHARING |
"At that moment his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God." 뾎uke 1:64 |
At the celebration of John the Baptizer's birthday, we receive presents, just as we do at the celebration of Christ's birthday, Christmas. Today you, like John, may receive not only a gift but the Giver of the gifts, that is, the Holy Spirit (see Lk 1:15). You may receive the gift of reconciliation between you and your parents or between you and your children (see Lk 1:17). The Lord certainly wants to give you the gift of being baptized into, that is, immersed in, repentance (Acts 13:24). The gift we especially focus on in this teaching is to have your tongue loosed to prophesy, as happened to Zechariah, John's father, eight days after John's birth (Lk 1:64, 67). Will you seek the gift of prophecy? (1 Cor 14:1) Prophets and prophetesses are usually rejected and even murdered (Lk 11:47ff). Prophets often feel like failures, who have "toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly spent" their strength (Is 49:4). Prophets must repent in order to practice what they prophesy. They are often called to counter-cultural lives of austerity (see Lk 1:80). They must deny themselves and take up the cross many times each day. On this special birthday celebration, the Lord wants to loose your tongue to prophesy. Will you accept His gift, no matter what? |
Prayer: Father, may I love You so much that I will decide to prophesy and suffer. |
Promise: "I will make you a light to the nations, that My salvation may reach to the ends of the earth." 뾋s 49:6 |
Praise: St. John was overjoyed to hear the voice of Jesus (Jn 3:29). He obeyed Jesus' command, and thereby enabled Jesus to be confirmed in His Father's love and baptized in the Holy Spirit (Mt 3:16-17). |
http://www.judeop.org/daily_bread.htm
What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. If Mary is our model, we are not the Christ, but Christ-bearers. If John is our model, we are not "he," but one who points to him. Those of us who do this sort of bearing and pointing for a living sometimes forget that we are merely instruments. That sin of self-importance is easy to fall into, especially if we’re good at what we do, if folks clamor for more. But like the collapsed house on sand of yesterday’s Gospel passage, when we forget who we are and who we are not, we fail dismally. Today let’s pray for the heralds, the ones who speak the truth and humbly get out of the way. For your ministers, Lord, and for those they serve. Pbs
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As great a dramatist as William Shakespeare was, he could not have achieved such masterpieces as Prince Hamlet or King Lear without writers of comparable skill working at the same time. Shakespeare’s plots were deepened, his vocabulary was polished, and his characterization was developed by the likes of Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Kidd producing dramas in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century England. To give a feel for his times, many teachers of Shakespeare require students to read a play by one of his lesser known but still quite talented contemporaries. Something similar may be said of John the Baptist in relation to Jesus.
As a preacher, John seems to have shaken ancient Israel. Although most of what is known about John comes from the four canonical gospels, he seems to have had an impact like few others. In fact, there is a religious sect today which claims John as its founder and leader in a way very similar to the way Christians view Jesus. Still the gospels see John as a foil to Jesus. That is, they relate his story as a way to highlight Jesus’ own. Luke tells us in today’s passage, for instance, that John is remarkably conceived by parents in old age. A bit later in his narrative he will show how Jesus is conceived even more miraculously by a virgin. In the fourth gospel, Jesus stands out more artfully. John’s disciples gravitate to Jesus, and John himself utters the humble yet lofty line, “He must increase; I must decrease.”
In a sense all Christians are foils of Jesus. Like him we can extend a hand to the downcast and provide bread for the hungry. But we recognize that we only imitate his goodness and that if there is anything about our actions that is truly unselfish, it is produced by his grace working in our hearts.
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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 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."
Since the feast of the Annunciation is set for March 25, the church shows that it can figure out the calendar of gestation by placing the birth date of John the Baptist at June 24, since the angel mentions that Elizabeth "is now in her sixth month." Of course, it all starts from December 25th, the date chosen to celebrate the birth of Jesus. All this calendar figuring has a way of reinforcing the message that Luke, the author of the gospel that bears his name and the Acts of the Apostles, wants to get across. Luke sets up an elaborate parallel in the first two chapters of his gospel to show that although John the Baptist is great, he is lesser than Jesus by quite a margin. To put it in movie-talk, he is one of the major actors in a supporting role, but not the lead! The passage quoted above is from a speech by St. Paul, but Luke is the author of it, and it is Luke's "agenda" that is in command in Acts.
All of this is by way of taking a step back from the amazing character of John the Baptist to look at the bigger picture of God's plan of salvation, which is what Luke does in many of the homilies of Peter and Paul in Acts. We learn from Acts that there was considerable confusion about John the Baptist and the baptism that he performed as part of his preaching. We know from the gospels that some folks thought Jesus was John the Baptist, or that John the Baptist was himself the Messiah. Luke is anxious to clear that up. John the Baptist is part of God's plan. He is the actor who prepares the way for the principal character. He is related somehow to Jesus and is six months older and fits the description of a true prophet in the Old Testament sense of the word, calling Israel to repentance. But he is NOT the Messiah. John shares with Jesus the fact that his birth was unexpected. He shares with Jesus a ministry of preaching. And he shares with Jesus the death of a martyr at the hands of a tyrant as the result of jealous scheming on the part of others. That makes him a very important figure. He may not be the Messiah, but he does rate a birthday party in the church's calendar! AMEN
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John the Baptist was born to Zechariah and Elizabeth, the cousin of
the Blessed Mother. So, in effect, he was the cousin of Jesus. We know
that Elizabeth was already advanced in age when, by the mysterious
will of God, she became pregnant. And when Mary came to visit her, the
baby in her womb leapt for joy because the unborn John felt the
presence of his Lord who was at that time in the womb of the Virgin
Mary.
When John was born, everyone knew that the baby would become someone
great. John did become great. But what kind of greatness did he show?
He lived a life of self-denial and mortification in the desert. And
when he appeared in Israel, it was to preach repentance to the Jews to
prepare them for the coming of the Lord. He prepared the way for
someone else and when Jesus did arrive, he took the back seat for him.
Yet many of the future followers of Jesus were also disciples of John.
They heeded his call for repentance and therefore were ready to see in
Jesus the long-awaited Messiah. Eventually, John died for Jesus.
Has there been a John the Baptist in your life who brought you to
Jesus? Be always grateful to him/her/them because they have done a
great service to you.
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