solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist

Isaiah 49:1-6; Psalm 139 I praise you for I am wonderfully made; Acts 13:22-26; Lk 1:57-66, 80

St. Paul in the book of Acts tells us that "to us this word of salvation has been sent."

The "word of salvation" is Jesus.  John the Baptist is the herald of the "word of salvation." 

 As St. Augustine exhorts us, John the Baptist is the "voice of one crying in the desert, make way the path of the Lord."  The voice is St. John but the "the Lord in the beginning was the word.  John was a voice that last only for a time; Christ, the Word in the beginning, is eternal," the beginning and the end, the ALpha and Omega.

Why do we celebrate the Birth of John the Baptist.  It is his birth that reveals to us how to live out our prophetic role in the world.  

John as a prophet always points toward the "Word" for as he says in the gospel, "I must decrease and He must increase."  He was never amused by his own voice that is he never just spoke to hear himself talk, rather his voice was filled with meaning.  He never said anything that didn't mean something.  The "Word" so captivated him that his voice was no longer his own but set apart for the praise of the "Word" himself.

John in the gospel never attracts people to himself but always directs them to Christ.

John never seeks for others to recognize him or to praise him but rather he makes it his life's work to direct all to seek the face of God, as he cries out "Behold the Lamb of God" as Jesus walks near. 

What a shining example of how to live our prophetic role given at baptism.  We should imitate John so that our voice is always speaking the "Word" as St. Paul says we should say only the good things people need to hear.  It is easy to get lost in the ability to turn a phrase or to sound clever but does our voice carry the presence of the "Word Himself."

We should imitate John so that our life work is to point toward the face of God in Jesus.  We should not busy ourselves with pointing fingers at others because of their presumed hypocrisy or faults but rather simply point toward Christ and allow his goodness and gentleness to be radiant and thus transforming.   Point to toward Christ so that others may begin to see Christ in themselves and those around them.  This alone brings about conversion. 

A life lived thus will result in the words of the Prophet Isaiah, "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..."