The gospel today tells the story of the birth of John the Baptist. Tomorrow is Christmas eve, when most of the world will begin celebrating the birth of baby Jesus later in the evening or at midnight Mass. But, many people do not know that John the Baptist himself has a feast day celebrating his birth on June 24th each year. It is called the Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist. It is fitting though, that today is not the Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist. He would have wanted it that way, because nothing he ever did in his lifetime distracted people from the coming of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist of course spent his entire life proclaiming the arrival of Jesus Christ, and it should be no different today.
The first reading today is from the book of the prophet Malachi. The prophet Isaiah though, was the first to proclaim the coming of Jesus Christ in 720 B.C. The prophet Malachi from today’s first reading, was the last of the prophets to foretell of Christ’s coming, by predicting the birth of John the Baptist. How could anyone doubt that Jesus Christ was not the messiah, that was foretold by the prophets for hundreds of years before his birth?
In the first reading the prophet Malachi wrote:
“Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; And suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek, And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.”
The birth of John the Baptist fulfilled this prophecy in the scriptures.
On another note though, the rest of the scriptures today focus a lot on fatherhood. The end of the first reading for Mass today leads right on into the gospel when it says:
“To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.”
It’s too bad that every father in our modern culture has not read these words and taken them to heart. This verse in scripture indicates there are serious consequences, if these words are not heeded. But, so many fathers work hard and protect their free time for more pleasurable pursuits these days. Children are sometimes viewed as being an intrusion into their lives, or they are aggravating to be around very much.
As time goes on, fathers often struggle with the temptation to only see the things that their children do wrong, and they set their hearts against them a lot of the time. This causes a lot of emotional damage to children, in the short term, and for the rest of their lives as well. Children can have hard feelings toward their dads in their childhood and this can even persist for the rest of their lives. A negative view of children can cause permanent damage to a child, if no effort is made to counter the negative (but necessary) interactions, with equal parts of love.
Today’s verse in scripture is a warning to fathers, to love their children first and foremost, and for children (both little ones and big ones too) to overcome any harboring resentments they have toward their fathers, and just forgive them and love them instead. What timely advice for Christmas!
When children are little, you really have no idea what kind of person they will become when they are grown. That is exactly the situation in today’s gospel account of the birth of John the Baptist. No one knew that this little baby was the very one that was foretold by the prophets. All they could probably see at the time was his tiny hands and sweet baby cheeks, as all parents and relatives do.
Babies are such a miracle in life. Obstetricians and midwives deliver hundreds of babies over the course of their career but if asked, they will tell you that each and every baby that is born in the delivery room is a miracle. Human life is such a miracle in modern times, but it was an unbelievable miracle, for Elizabeth to have a child well past her childbearing years, in the gospel account today. It was such a miracle that Zechariah just couldn’t believe it was true, until he looked at him with his very own eyes.
As we prepare for Christ’s birth, it might not hurt to remember how we felt the first time we held our children, grandchildren, siblings, or nieces and nephews for the first time. Newborn babies are so innocent, pure, sweet and helpless. You can’t help but love them! Their tiny hands grasp yours and changes your heart forever. Let us think of this, when we celebrate Christ’s own birth tomorrow night. His tiny hands, sweet cheeks, little baby smiles and sounds. A warm little miracle that Mary held in her arms, that grasped her finger and Joseph’s too, in much the same way that all human babies do.
May baby Jesus touch your heart and bring you much peace, love and joy, as we prepare to celebrate his birth.
