The Birth of John The Baptist / June 24, 2018

Gospel

LK 1:5-17

In the days of Herod, King of Judea,
there was a priest named Zechariah
of the priestly division of Abijah;
his wife was from the daughters of Aaron,
and her name was Elizabeth.
Both were righteous in the eyes of God,
observing all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly.
But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren
and both were advanced in years.
Once when he was serving
as priest in his division's turn before God,
according to the practice of the priestly service,
he was chosen by lot
to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense.
Then, when the whole assembly of the people was praying outside
at the hour of the incense offering,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him,
standing at the right of the altar of incense.
Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him.
But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah,
because your prayer has been heard.
Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son,
and you shall name him John.
And you will have joy and gladness,
and many will rejoice at his birth,
for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.
John will drink neither wine nor strong drink.
He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb,
and he will turn many of the children of Israel
to the Lord their God.
He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah
to turn their hearts toward their children
and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous,
to prepare a people fit for the Lord."

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June 24, 2018by Dennis Hamm, S.J.

The mere mention of John the Baptist calls to mind the iconic image of John standing in the River Jordan immersing Jesus in the water. But wait! That wonderful moment has a feast of its own: The Baptism of the Lord! Today’s feast is about something else — not John’s baptizing of Jesus but John’s own birth. This feast celebrates a life that starts small but eventually, by way of God’s loving initiatives and the free response of persons, emerges as one of the key figures in sacred history. 

So, to celebrate this special life, the church has drawn on a key Servant song from the scroll of Isaiah, then the great Psalm about being nurtured in the womb, then a summary of the good news of God’s mercy from Peter in Acts, and finally the celebration of John’s birth in Luke’s gospel. Taken together, this collection can be a powerful meditation on the mystery of vocation — John’s, and eventually ours.

Isaiah’s song about the Servant speaks of God’s forming him for a mission with worldwide consequences — first to restore the scattered tribes of Israel, and then, as Israel, to be a light to all the nations. We recognize that prophecy to be fulfilled ultimately in the person, words and work of Jesus, and furthered in the life and mission of the church — including us.

The verses from Psalm 139 echo Isaiah’s language in a song of gratitude, which proclaims in wonder, “I was fashioned in the depths of the earth” – a powerful metaphor for the mysterious, hidden fertility of the psalmist’s mother (“You knit me in my mother’s womb”). What a perfect reading to celebrate the healing of Elizabeth’s infertility, whose fruit was baby John.

Luke’s presentation of Peter’s speech in the synagogue of Pisidia (Acts 13) celebrates John’s special place in God’s fulfillment of the promises made to both David and Abraham. Through John, God had prepared Israel to receive the surprising news that the long-awaited Anointed One of Israel turned out to be the rejected prophet, Jesus of Nazareth, raised to transformed life by the Father.

Finally, Luke’s account of the circumcision and naming of Elizabeth’s and Zechariah’s child, who was so unexpectedly and appropriately named Iōannēs (Greek for the Hebrew Johanan, “God shows mercy”). His simple presence is the very expression of God’s merciful intervention in a situation of sterility (not only biological but social), and begins the fulfillment of Israel’s long-held nurtured hope. Zechariah’s Nunc Dimittis (vv. 68-79) spells all this out. 

The Lectionary saves that for another day, but it does supply the final verse of the passage: “The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.” God continues the growth that he began in Elizabeth’s sterile womb. Taken together and pondered prayerfully, these remarkable Scripture passages can help us all marvel at how each of us can recognize the graceful interplay of God’s loving initiatives and the opportunities for free response that make up our own emerging stories of vocation, no matter how sterile they may sometimes seem.