On June 24th every year, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Nativity of John the Baptist. This is a rare event in the liturgical calendar of the church. There are only two other times we celebrate a nativity in the church’s calendar year. Everyone knows that we celebrate Jesus’s birth at Christmas, but we also celebrate the Virgin Mary’s birth on September the 8th every year too.
All three were born without sin. Yes, you heard this correctly. Most people know that Jesus and Mary were conceived without sin, and therefore born without sin, but a lot of people do not know that the Catholic church teaches that Saint John the Baptist was born without sin too. How is that? It is because Christ sanctified him while John was still in the womb. When Mary visited Elizabeth, John the Baptist acknowledged him as the son of God, even before he was born.
The scriptures for mass today talk about the sacredness of human life, even before birth. The prophet Isaiah wrote:
“The Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name…..For now the Lord has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb.”
And the Responsorial Psalm is about unborn life as well:
“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.
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.”
It’s a shame more young people do not read the bible. These verses in scripture explain the value of all unborn human life, beginning right from conception. Aside from referring to the need to recognize abortion is a grave moral wrong, these scriptures also explain how precious and valuable all human life is. God is our creator and He loves us, even before we were ever born. God does not create people who have no value or worth.
There is also nothing we can do to earn God’s love. Beautiful, colorful birds and fish and flowers and all of creation glorifies God, just by existing. A red bird is beautiful just the way God created him, for an example. Red birds do not have to do anything to earn God’s love. God already loves the red bird just the way he is. In the same way, we can not do anything to earn God’s love either. We are His children and He loves us too, just because we exist. That is a wonderful enough thought to last us the rest of the day.
When you read the scriptures today about Saint John the Baptist’s birth, there is an overpowering sense of predestination. John the Baptist was predestined to serve God by announcing the arrival of His son. The scriptures say that the community that John the Baptist was born into, became afraid when Zechariah wrote John’s name on paper and then was instantly cured of his inability to speak. It terrified those who witnessed it, and everyone knew God’s hand was upon this baby. The gospel said that all of the people living in the hill country of Judea discussed what happened and took it to heart.
You can’t help but remember poor Joseph and Mary and baby Jesus though. Elizabeth and Zechariah had the help and support of all of their family, friends and neighbors. The entire community rejoiced with them, when John the Baptist was born. You can’t help but feel sorry for Mary giving birth in an animal stable on a cold dark night, alone, with only Saint Joseph to help her. How awful this must have been at first, to not have the company of other women to assist her, while she gave birth to her first child.
Life doesn’t always seem fair sometimes, when you are living in the moment. It would have been easy for Mary to get upset with God for not helping her, just when she needed Him the most. But, she didn’t. If she did, we never heard about it. All we know is she gave birth to God’s own son. She is the mother of God. Temporary, transitional details do not matter in the long run. Our difficult moments are temporary situations that will pass too. Everything changes. Nothing stays the same. The constant presence in John the Baptist’s life, and in ours too, is Jesus. From his birth to his death, John the Baptist loved the Lord with a passion. His love, his passion for God and love for His son, is what we remember about John the Baptist. His love for the Lord lived on, thousands of years after his death.
That’s a tough question for us to think about too. What will people remember about us after our own death? That we were a meticulous housekeeper, or a shrewd investor? Our lives are not a success or a failure because of worldly standards though. We may look like a failure in life to others sometimes, from the outside looking in. But, John the Baptist lived in poverty in the desert, wearing a camel coat and eating locusts and honey. He must have appeared to be a little crazy to the more well-to-do people of his time. But, Jesus said once in the gospels, that there was no man born from woman, who is greater than John the Baptist.
Daily Mass Readings:
Isaiah 49: 1-6 / Psalm 139 / Acts 13: 22-26 / Luke 1: 57-66, 80
