+JOHN IS HIS NAME Birth of John the Baptist, June 24, 2025
There is something hidden and mysterious about the figure of John the Baptist, for our own day as it was in his. Born of the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth, he was conceived when she was past the age of bearing a child. All the people, St Luke tells us, who witnessed his birth were filled with wonder, saying : “’what, then, will this child be?’ for surely the hand of the Lord is with him.”
Our first reading from the prophet Isaiah, speaks of one called from birth, from his mother’s womb. The prophet goes on to say: “you are my servant.. Israel, through whom I show my glory.” We are given to see this hidden figure as representative of the chosen people, called to be “a light to the nations, so that God’s salvation may reach the ends of the earth.”
Might this be what today’s Solemnity is offering each and all of us, giving us a living awareness of how we too are God’s chosen ones. Each of us is to be a light to those around us, living members of Christ’s Body in our world today. The Sacrament we celebrate here at this altar is what each of our lives is to become as we let the sacredness of our own calling permeate the whole of our lives.
We will never know or suspect what loving actions bring about in those around us. But as often as we allow the hand of God to be present wherever we may be, whatever we may be doing, God’s loving presence is manifest and transforms the world and lives of others.
Each one of us has been called by name whether at birth, at our Baptism or when we entered religious life. We, like John the Baptist are polished arrows in God’s quiver. When the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah the priest in the temple, announcing that his wife would bear him a son, he was to be called John. In the Bible, the name John, derived from the Hebrew name Yohanan, means “God is gracious” or “God has shown favor”. Each of our names reveals something of God’s design and mission for our lives.
Realizing our dignity as God’s chosen ones, we are made ready to undertake whatever is asked of us, confident that it has precious value even when we are overwhelmed by doubt or fear. Isaiah tells of this when he says: “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.” The prophet’s words remind us of that point in John’s life when imprisoned and sent his disciples to Jesus asking: “Are you the one to come, or should we look for another?” John, like us all, had his moments when he wondered where this Jesus was leading him.
What became clear to John when Jesus began to proclaim that the Kingdom of God was at hand, was that he must decrease while the Bridegroom must increase. So it is in each of our lives as we allow the Spirit of Jesus take possession of all we do, the false self, the ego, are set aside so that Christ’s life may become more and more manifest in all that we say and do.
This living faith is ever unfolding as we die to ourselves and live to Christ. The Eucharist we celebrate portrays this ongoing transformation as humble elements of bread and wine become the very Body and Blood of Christ. What took place at our baptism reaches fulfillment as Christ’s own love is allowed to consume us. So let us be ever grateful for what Christ seeks to bring about in each of our lives.
Isaiah 49:1-6; Acts 13:22-26; Luke 1:57-66,80