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Birth of John the Baptist
June 24, 2007, Year:C
Is. 49:1-6; Acts 13:22-26; Lk. 1:57-66, 80
He
came to testify to the Light.
First Reading...
"Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples
from far away! The Lord called me before I was born,
while I was in my mother's womb he named me.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of
his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his
quiver he hid me away.
And the Lord said to me, 'You are my servant, Israel, in
whom I will be glorified.' But I said, 'I have laboured
in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and
vanity; yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my
reward with my God.'
And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be
his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel
might be gathered to him, for I am honoured in the sight
of the Lord, and my God has become my strength.
The Lord says, 'It is too small a thing that you should
be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to
restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you a light
to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end
of the earth.'" [Is. 49:1-6]
Second Reading...
"On the sabbath, Paul and his companion went to the
synagogue, and the officials of the synagogue invited
them to address the people. So Paul stood up and began
to speak. 'You Israelites, and all who fear God, listen.
God made David king of our ancestors. In his testimony
about him God said, 'I have found David, son of Jesse,
to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my
wishes.'
Of this man's posterity God has brought to Israel a
Saviour, Jesus, as he promised: before the coming of
Jesus John had already proclaimed a baptism of
repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was
finishing his work he said, 'What do you suppose that I
am? I am not he. No, but one is coming after me: I am
not worthy to untie the thong of the sandals of his
feet.'
You descendants of Abraham's family, and others who fear
God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent."
[Acts 13:22-6]
Gospel Reading...
"The time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore
a son. Her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord
had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with
her.
On the eight day they came to circumcise the child, and
they were going to name him Zechariah after his father.
But his mother said, 'No; he is the be called John,'
They said to her, 'None of your relatives has this
name.' Then they began motioning to his father to find
out what name he wanted to give him.
He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, 'His name is
John.' And all of them were amazed. Immediately his
mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to
speak, praising God.
Fear came over all the neighbours, and all these things
were talked about throughout the entire hill country of
Judea. All who heard them pondered them and said, 'What
then will this child become?' For, indeed, the hand of
the Lord was with him.
The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was
in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to
Israel." [Lk. 1:57-66, 80]
Helpful Life Story:
At one time Andrew Carnegie was the wealthiest man in
America. He came to America from his native Scotland
when he was a small boy, did a variety of odd jobs, and
eventually ended up as the largest steel manufacturer in
the United States (U.S. Steel). At one time he had
forty-three millionaires working for him. In those days
a millionaire was a rare person; conservatively
speaking, a million dollars in those days would be
equivalent to at least twenty million dollars today.
One reporter asked Carnegie how he come
to hire forty-three millionaires. Carnegie responded,
you got to remember that those men had not been
millionaires when they started working for him but had
become millionaires only as a result.
The reporter’s next question was, "Well,
how did you develop these men to become so valuable to
you that you paid them that much money?" Carnegie
replied that people are developed the same way gold is
mined. When gold is mined, several tons of dirt and
stone must be moved first to get an ounce of gold; but
one doesn’t go into the mine looking for dirt—one goes
in looking for gold.
That’s exactly the way managers need to
view people. Don’t look for the flaws, warts, and
blemishes. Look for the gold, not the dirt; the good,
not the bad. Look for the positive aspects of life. Like
everything else, the more good qualities we look for in
our people, the more good qualities we are going to
find.
Some of you may be wondering why the
Catholic Church commemorates Saint John the Baptist in
its Liturgical Calendar. What is so special about him?
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "John
the Baptist was more than a prophet. In him the Holy
Spirit concludes His speaking through the prophets. He
completes the cycle of prophets that began with Elijah.
John
came to bear witness to the Light.
"He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this
is he who baptized with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen
and have born witness that this is the Son of God...
Behold the Lamb of God." [Jn. 1:33-6] (CCC. 719)
John the Baptist was the last of the prophets. Contrary
to the claims of some other faiths, be it Mohammed or
Joseph Smith, there were no more prophets after him.
"St. Peter proclaimed the fulfillment of the prophetic
texts in the morning of Pentecost." [Acts 2:16-21] (CCC
715)
"The patriarchs, prophets, and certain other Old
Testament figures have been and always will be honoured
as saints in all the Church's liturgical
traditions." (CCC 61)
"Through the prophets, God forms His
people in the hope of salvation, in the expectation of a
new and everlasting Covenant intended for all, to be
written on their hearts. [Is 2:2-4; Jer 31:31-4; Heb.
10:16] The prophets proclaim a radical redemption of the
People of God, purification from all their infidelities,
a salvation which will include all the nations. [Ezek.
26; Is 49:5- 6, 53:11 24; Zeph 2:3; Lk 1:38] Above all,
the poor and humble of the Lord will bear this hope." (CCC
64)
"In Israel, those consecrated to God for
a mission that He gave were anointed in His Name. This
was the case for kings, for priests and, in rare
instances, for prophets. This had to be the case all the
more so for the Messiah whom God would send to
inaugurate His kingdom definitively. It was necessary
that the Messiah be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord
at once as king and priest, and also as prophet. Jesus
fulfilled the messianic hope of Israel in His threefold
office of Priest, Prophet, and King. (CCC 436)
During today's First Reading from the
Book of Isaiah, [Is. 49:1-6] we hear the words, "Before
I was born, while I was in my mother's womb He named
me." [Is 49:1] This passage from the Holy Scriptures
reveals to us that before we were born, God had chosen
our vocation, be it to the Sacrament of the Holy Orders,
the religious or single life or the Sacrament of Holy
Matrimony. This truth is seen in the life of the Prophet
Jeremiah [Jer 1:5], in the life of John the Baptist [Lk
1:15], in the life of Jesus [Lk 1:31] and in the life of
Saint Paul. [Gal 1:15]
We continue to hear, "He
made my mouth like a sharp sword."
This means that when the prophets uttered the Word of
God, it was as a sharp sword. The people paid attention.
They heard the message of God. The Word of God is the
Sword of the Holy Spirit. [Eph 6:17] "Indeed the Word of
God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged
Sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit..."
[Heb 4:12; Rev 1:16]
Next, the Lord said to Isaiah, "You are
my Servant, Israel..." [Is. 49:3] From these words, it
becomes clear that God was not speaking to Isaiah or of
Jesus because of the word "Israel." God was speaking to
the people of Israel. Their final destiny was for the
righteous of Israel to be a light for the Gentiles and
to bring salvation to the ends of the earth. This was
not new knowledge that was being revealed! It was well
known and part of the promise of God the Father to
Abraham when He said,
"I will indeed bless you, and I will make
your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as
the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring
shall possess the gate of their enemies, and by your
offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain
blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my
voice." [Gen. 22:17-8]
Yes, "all the nations" were called to
gain their blessings through the Jewish nation. While
this was God's original calling for His people, their
desire for political greatness had obscured their
original calling.
Next, we heard, "But I said, 'I have laboured in vain, I
have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet
surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my
God.'" [Is 49:4] In these words, we hear the frustration
of the Servant over what seems like a wasted ministry.
How the worldly minded people quickly forget their
blessings. This human weakness was also seen in St. John
the Baptist. While in prison, he sent some of his
followers to Jesus and asked,
"Are you
the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?"
[Mt 11:3] In suffering, had he forgotten the words that
He had spoken on the Jordan River? "Here is the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world." [Jn 1:19]
In our time of weakness, we are no
different than John the Baptist. We doubt the Presence
of God. We doubt the grace of God. We doubt the love of
God. Nothing would satisfy us more than to have Jesus
appear right in front of us to convince us that He is
here, that His grace is with us and that He loves us. In
moments when we are tired or sick, Satan uses these
opportunities to place doubtful thoughts in our minds.
Those are the moments when we must persevere the most in
our faith. Those are the moments when we must pray for
each other.
Towards the end of the First Reading, we
hear that God decided to encourage His Servant by
extending his mission. Not only will the Servant be
chosen to restore the Jewish nation, but he will also be
a light "to the ends of the earth," [Gen 12:3; Lk 2:32;
Acts 13:47] announcing the good news that salvation has
come.
Before the coming of the Lord Jesus, John
the Baptist had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to
all the people of Israel. [Acts 13:24] John the Baptist
was sent to fulfill the prophecy from the Book of
Malachi where it states, "and you, child, will be called
the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the
Lord to prepare his ways." [Mal 3:1; Lk 1:76; Also Lk
3:15-8; Mk 1:4; Acts 19:4]
John the Baptist opened the way to Jesus.
Once Jesus appeared on the scene, John's calling had
come to an end. As John the Baptist said,
"I am
not worthy to untie the thong of the sandals of his
feet."
[Acts 13:25] Jesus, God incarnated, was more powerful
than John the Baptist.
The Gospel of Luke [Lk 1:57-66, 80] provides us with
information regarding the birth of John the Baptist.
When Elizabeth, the mother of John, gave birth to her
son, the fulfillment of time had arrived. The last
prophet had been sent by God. What was unique about this
prophet is that while others spoke of the coming
Messiah, John the Baptist personally knew the Messiah.
Because of the "old age of Elizabeth," [Lk
1:36] no one would have expected her to bear a child. In
view of this, the neighbours and relatives saw this as a
"great mercy to her." [Lk 1:58] Rarely does the Holy
Bible use the word "great" unless something extra-
ordinary is about to happen. In Genesis 19:19, we read
of the "great kindness" of God when he saved the life of
Lot before destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. In 1 Samuel
12:24, we read a reference to the "great things" that
God had done for the people. God had freed His people
from the Egyptian slavery. He brought them to the
promised land and prepared the way for them to possess
it.
When the neighbours and relatives of
Elizabeth spoke of the "great mercy" [Lk. 1:58] that God
had shown towards her, they were revealing God's
redemptive acts.
As commanded by God, [Lev. 12:3] on the
eight day, John the Baptist was circumcised in perfect
observance of the Law of Israel. This ceremony was
viewed as an important act of initiating a male child
into the covenanted people of God. When reviewing St.
Paul's Epistles, we learn that the old custom of
circumcision is not a necessity to receive salvation
through Christ.
As the late custom of Israel dictated [Tob
1:1, 9], those who were present wanted John to be named
"Zechariah" after his father. To this, Elizabeth
objected. She said he should be named, "John" [Lk 1:60]
When the relatives objected to this, Zechariah asked for
a writing tablet on which he wrote, "His name is John."
[Lk 1:63]
At this point, it must be remembered that
the angel Gabriel [Lk 1:19] had appeared to Zachariah
and told him that his wife would bear a son who must be
named John. [Lk 1:13] Because Zachariah, being of old
age, did not believe Gabriel, he became mute and was to
remain so until the fulfilment of this prophecy. [Lk
1:20] When Zachariah wrote on the tablet, three things
became obvious. The prophecy that Elizabeth would bear a
child was fulfilled. The prophecy that the child would
be called John was fulfilled. And the prophecy that
Zachariah would be able to speak again was fulfilled at
that moment.
In view of all this, it is no wonder that
"fear came over all the neighbours and all these things
were talked about throughout the entire hill country of
Judea." [Lk. 1:65] Those who heard of these things, they
asked themselves in their heart, "What then will this
child become?" [Lk. 1:66]
The answer to that question, I have given to you in
detail during the first part of my homily. Saint John
the Baptist came to testify to the Light. [Jn. 1:8]
We may not be prophets. But we
are
still called to testify to the Light.
We are called to testify as to what Jesus did for us?
And we are called to testify as to what Jesus has done
for the world by promoting His message of salvation.
This week, each and everyone of us should take a moment
to assess the status of this Christian obligation. Have
we answered God's call to preach the good news? Those
who have yet to do so, we members of the Parish join our
prayers for the Holy Spirit to guide you in your
callings. May the grace of God be with all of you. We
need to discover in us and in others the precious gifts
of God. How John the Baptist was highly appreciative of
Jesus, and never envious. So we too must be happy to be
happy with others.
Find Gold in others and not dirt – this is in reference
to the anecdote at the beginning of the homily.
Task of a Prophet in us:
Final Touch to your homily:
NO PAIN NO GAIN
As Lao-Tzu said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins
with a single step." So what if that first step is a
little painful?
You see, if you want to accomplish something, there are
two kinds of pain you might encounter: the pain of
discipline and the pain of regret.
Whenever you take that first step toward a new goal, you
often experience the pain of discipline: the pain of
hard work, the pain of sacrifice, as you single-mindedly
pursue your dream.
On the other hand, if you don't go after your dreams,
you might experience an even greater type of pain: the
pain of staying stuck, which eventually turns into the
pain of regret.
Remember, as Sydney J. Harris wrote,
"Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time;
it is regret for the things we did not do that is
inconsolable."
When you're really ready to make a change in your life,
you'll find, as writer Anaiis Nin did, that the "risk to
remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it
took to blossom."
The great thing about discipline is if you discipline
yourself on a daily basis, eventually something
"magical" will happen, almost without your realizing
it-one day, the discipline will turn into desire.
A runner who "makes" herself run on a daily basis, one
day gets up "wanting" to run. The same holds true for
writing, public speaking, or anything else.
So today, start that project, make that call, do what
you need to do to begin. Here's a guarantee: If you work
through a little pain, you'll see a little progress.
DEAR PREACHER YOU NEED NOT SAY ALL THAT
IS PRINTED HERE. THIS IS JUST A HELP FOR THOSE WHO WOULD
LIKE TO HELP THEMSELVES.
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 A
New book from Fr. Rudy :
Short review of the book: This book is an out come of a
serious exegetical study on the important words and
texts from the writings of St John of the Cross. The
study deals with a short life and writings of the mystic
and then does a complete study on GOD, MAN and WAYS to
EXPERIENCE GOD. The book is available at: St. Joseph
Church, Near Holy Cross Convent School, Mira Road East,
Thane Dt. Maharashtra State - 401 107, India. Books can
be ordered through email:
rudyocd@yahoo.com
or rudyocd@gmail.com
The cost of the book is Rs.
125/- pp.xviii + 234, The Title of the Book is: THE
DYNAMISM OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH - An Exegetical Study on
St. John of the Cross, author: Dr. Rudolf V. D' Souza,
OCD, MA. PhD. |
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 Dear friend, my
homilies will be posted on Thursdays and you can benefit
them and if you need more resources, you could contact
me on
rudyocd@yahoo.com or
rudyocd@gmail.com
Let us make this ministry
fruitful one so that the Word of God becomes a source of
joy for me and for you and help people become more aware
of its riches. You are also welcome to share your
feedback with me. Thanks and God bless.
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