JOHN IS HIS NAME
We celebrate the birth of John the
Baptist, today, six months before Christmas because of what we know from the
biblical story. Elizabeth, John's mother, is in the sixth month of her
pregnancy when an angel appears to Mary.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the natural cycles of the earth point to
this biblical story. When people wondered if John was marketing himself as the
Messiah, he pointed away from himself and said, "I am not the Messiah, but
I was sent before Him...this joy of mine has been made complete. He must
increase, and I must decrease" (Jn. 3:28-30).
John is born when daylight is the longest and then steadily decreases. Jesus is born when daylight is the shortest and then increases. John said we must do the same. We remember John because he does what we are all called to do - point to the light of Jesus Christ. May the light of Christ burn in our hearts and increase throughout our years!
John is born when daylight is the longest and then steadily decreases. Jesus is born when daylight is the shortest and then increases. John said we must do the same. We remember John because he does what we are all called to do - point to the light of Jesus Christ. May the light of Christ burn in our hearts and increase throughout our years!
Let's reflect more deeply on the life
and mission of John the Baptist. We see the beginning of the fulfillment of
this word when the Angel Gabriel announces to Zechariah the marvelous birth and
mission of John. 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 the time comes for naming a newborn?
This child, however, has been named from above. The name John means, "the
Lord is gracious." In both the birth of John and that of Jesus we see the
grace of God breaking forth into a world broken by sin and death and which
desires to remove God from its presence. John's miraculous birth shows the
mercy and favor of God in preparing His people for the coming of their Savior,
the Christ.
John the Baptist's life was fueled by
one burning passion and that was to point others to Jesus and to the coming of
His Kingdom. Scripture tells us that John was filled with the Holy Spirit even
from his mother's womb by Christ Himself, Whom Mary had just conceived by the
power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Lk 1:41). When Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth,
John leaped in her womb and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. The fire of
the Spirit dwelt in John and made him the forerunner of the coming Messiah.
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 loving Spirit and makes our faith "alive" to His
promises. Our lives are an offering to God, along with our family and all that
we possess.
In the Responsorial Psalm we acclaim,
"I praise You, for I am wonderfully made...Truly You have formed my inmost
being; You knit me in my mother's womb" (Ps. 139:13-14).
God wants to fill us with His glory all
the days of our lives, from birth until death. Let us renew each day the
offering of our lives to God.