Solemnity of Birthday of John the Baptist, June 24, 2007: Sunday

Scripture: Isaiah 49:1-6. Psalm 139:1-3,13-15. Acts 13:22-26. Luke
1:57-66, 80. Lectionary # 580:

Luke's narrative about the birth of John the Baptist is the source for this
Solemnity. Only he and Jesus' Mother, and Jesus have their birthdays
celebrated in our liturgy. Luke, the great literary artist of the Infancy
Narratives, is presenting us with his theological and spiritual perspective
on these early events in the life of Jesus and John. They are placed in
parallel narratives sometimes called dyptichs--thus Luke is similar to an
artist in painting these scenes with his writing. One of the key verses in
Luke occurs towards the center of the Gospel in Luke 16:16: "The Law
(Torah) and the prophets were in effect until John; but from then on the
kingdom of God is proclaimed, and every one who enters does so through
violence." Luke is showing us the great importance of the Baptist as the
Elijah or prophet who ushers in the messianic era. Jesus is the Messiah
while John is his prophetic precursor and witness. In the liturgical
reading for today, we listen to the naming of John by his father Zechariah.
"John is his name!" This name in Hebrew means the "gracious gift of God"
and it too is prophetic and heart-warming as a name for the baby born to
Elizabeth who was considered barren before his conception. As Luke unfolds
his story we see that John fulfills his prophetic role in both of Luke's
writings-- the Gospel and the Acts. His prophetic role is seen in his
truthful, challenging, and humble witness to the Messiah, Jesus. The
account in Acts for today has Paul saying, " ...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 the sandals on
his feet'". M.Traher has this fine insight for us in his short meditation
for the feast: "How many of us have ever thought of our baptism as a
vocation to be a prophetic sign of God's love in the 'wilderness' of modern
society?...Can we in turn trust God enough to help us do our part, without
letting our fears, our ego or other distractions get in the way of our
witnessing to the reign of God?" (Living with Christ, 2007, p.121). On this
special Sunday Solemnity it seems quite appropriate to renew our baptismal
vows and to be prophetic witnesses to Jesus' proclamation of the kingdom.
Amen.