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| “St John the Baptist as a Boy” by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, c. 1665 |
Readings for the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
Readings and Commentary: [3]
Reading 1: Isaiah 49:1-6
Hear me, O coastlands,
listen, O distant peoples.
The LORD called me from birth,
from my mother's womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword
and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.
He made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me,
Israel, through whom I show my glory.
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.
For now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
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Commentary on Is 49:1-6
In this passage, the beginning of the second of the four “Servant of the Lord” oracles, the prophet Isaiah speaks of his own call of service to God. It presents him as “another Jeremiah”: He is called from his mother’s womb (see Jeremiah 1:5). The prophet has a vocation to the Gentiles (Jeremiah 1:10; Jeremiah 25:15ff) to bring a message of both doom and happiness (Jeremiah 16:19-21). [4] We note that God sets his servants on their course from before their birth (see also Luke 1:15 (St. John the Baptist), Luke 1:31 (Jesus) and Galatians 1:15 (St. Paul the Apostle)).
The servant learns that, even at times when his effort seems to have failed (“Though I thought I had toiled in vain”), it is God’s strength and plan that succeeds (“my recompense is with my God”)(see also 1 Corinthians 4:1-5). The prophet’s role is expanded at the end of the passage to “reach to the ends of the earth,” a revelation further elaborated in Genesis 12:3; Luke 2:31-32; and Acts 13:47.
CCC: Is 49:1-6 713; Is 49:5-6 64
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15
R. (14) I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
O LORD, you have probed me, you know me:
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R. I praise you for I am wonderfully made.
Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother's womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.
R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
My soul also you knew full well;
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.
R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
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Commentary on Ps 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15
This song/prayer asks for guidance from the Holy Spirit. It recognizes that God’s spirit is in all his creation and its knowledge is omnipresent. The idea of being called from the womb – set aside for God – is a common theme of the prophetic tradition in both the Old Testament and New Testament.
CCC: Ps 139:15 2270
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Reading II: Acts 13:22-26
In those days, Paul said:
"God raised up David as king;
of him God testified,
I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart;
he will carry out my every wish.
From this man's descendants God, according to his promise,
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.
John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance
to all the people of Israel;
and as John was completing his course, he would say,
'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he.
Behold, one is coming after me;
I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.'
"My brothers, sons of the family of Abraham,
and those others among you who are God-fearing,
to us this word of salvation has been sent."
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Commentary on Acts 13:22-26
This is the first of several instances recorded in Acts that St. Paul uses his scholarly knowledge of the Hebrew tradition to build up a logical rationale for Jesus as Savior and Messiah. In this passage, that development ends as he recounts the history of God’s covenant with the Jewish people from their exodus from Egypt under Moses to the appearance of John the Baptist (in this discourse there are quotes from several sources: Psalm 89:21; 1 Samuel 13:14; and Isaiah 44:28). St. John was a contemporary figure about whom these people would have been aware, and he quotes Luke 3:16. He concludes by appealing to the Jewish audience (“sons of the family of Abraham”) to hear the prophetic call fulfilled.
CCC: Acts 13:24 523
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Gospel: Luke 1:57-66, 80
When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child
she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
"No. He will be called John."
But they answered her,
"There is no one among your relatives who has this name."
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name,"
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
"What, then, will this child be?"
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.
The child grew and became strong in spirit,
and he was in the desert until the day
of his manifestation to Israel.
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Commentary on Luke 1:57-66, 80
We hear the angel’s announcement to Zechariah (Luke 1:13ff) fulfilled in St. Luke’s account of the birth of St. John the Baptist. The naming of the child “John” broke tradition (according to the tradition of the day, the child should have been named after his father, Zechariah) and by acceding to the archangel Gabriel’s announcement, we see the child set on a course directed by God and dedicated to him. Based upon the closing statement (v.80), it is possible the boy, John, was entrusted to the "covenanters at Qumran." [5]
CCC: Lk 1:68 422, 717
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Reflection:
The feast we celebrate today, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, is raised to the level of a solemnity, the highest, most important rank that is given to celebrations in the Church. We point this out to invite the question: “Why would the birth of St. John the Baptist be placed on the same level as the feasts of the Transfiguration, Christmas, or Easter?” These other solemnities mark major events in the life of Christ. While he was Jesus’ cousin, and his birth, like the Lord’s, was miraculous (although not anywhere close to the virginal birth of the Lord), St. John passed from sight early in the saga of Jesus. Why then does the Church so honor the day of his birth?
We ask the question rhetorically of course. Without the birth of St. John, Jesus’ mission could not have happened. It was St. John who came as the “Elijah figure,” returning as prophesied to herald the coming of the Messiah. It was St. John who announced and prefigured the Lord in life and death. St. John was the perfect key that opened the way for the Savior who in turn used that key to defeat death and open wide the gates of salvation for all mankind.
When we recall St. John’s beginning, Scripture presents us with a clear picture of his importance in God’s plan. Like the great prophets of old, St. John was called to his role from his mother’s womb. Indeed, his first meeting with Jesus was from the womb as his mother, Elizabeth, met her cousin, the Blessed Virgin Mary, when she was newly with child. St. John, while still in Elizabeth’s womb, leapt for joy at the sound of Mary’s voice. His path was already set, his mission already accepted. (Luke 1:40-41)
Like the Lord himself, little is known of St. John’s early years. We may only speculate that, growing up, he must have spent some time with Jesus. Clearly, he knew that it was he, the Lord, whose path he made straight. His response to those who asked him later if he was the Messiah makes clear that he was humble in his role and awed by the call he had accepted. The Acts of the Apostles recalled his words to us: “I am not he.” He said when asked if he was the one expected: “Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.”
In his witness, St. John not only announced the Lord’s coming, but provided for us an example of how we should accept the Lord’s future coming. Like St. John, we should be filled with awe and wonder at what God has done for us. We should be filled with expectation at what the Heavenly Father has prepared for us. We should be joyful as we anticipate our Lord’s coming in glory.
As we recall St. John’s nativity on this his feast day, let us all pray that we may conform our attitudes to his being filled with the Holy Spirit, rejoicing in the Lord who came as he promised and will come again.
Pax
In other years in this on this date: Saturday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
[1] The picture is “St John the Baptist as a Boy” by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, c. 1665.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] See Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 22:35, p.376.
[5] Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 44:39, p. 124.
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