BIRTHDAY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

THE BIRTHDAY OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP 

Isa 49:1-6; Ps 139:1-3,13-15; Acts 13:22-26; Lk 1:57-66,80

Called and Sanctified in the Womb

Our Creator knows us completely, but we do not know him. His knowledge of us is the cause of stability in our lives. But our lack of knowledge of God, our ignorance of his complete knowledge of us, and his divine plan for our days, before we were conceived, are the causes of the fear in the face of the variations in the material world. In the case of John the Baptist, God’s foreknowledge was revealed to him or confirmed while he was still in his mother’s womb. This singular privilege is what Isaiah prophesied in the first reading. “Islands, listen to me, pay attention, remotest peoples. The Lord called me before I was born, from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name. He made my mouth a sharp sword and hid me in the shadow of his hand. He made me into a sharpened arrow, and concealed me in his quiver.” Notice that this prophecy can also apply to the Messiah. This prenatal sanctification and consecration are unique only to John the Baptist. This is why the Church celebrates his birthday as a solemn feast. His consecration is not like that of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was conceived without sin; hence, consecrated before conception. It is not also like the Messiah’s consecration who is Eternal Word. Thus, the Baptist’s consecration is unique and serves the purpose of his mission.

We must understand that this uniqueness is basically because of his knowledge of his consecration to the mission God has given him as the Forerunner of Christ. The consecration is effective on his side, for he owned the consecration and lived it out. He was stable in his conviction and mission to the extent he kept faith in the word of God spoken to him, even in the womb. The scripture says he leaped with joy in the womb when the Eternal Word, then Incarnate in the womb of his Virgin Mother, came to him. Even at his birth, his prophetic mission was already at play when he caused the loosening of his father’s tongue. “The father asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And they were all astonished. At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke and praised God.” But the prophecy of Isaiah also contains his instability which came from his doubts of the word of God and lack of certainty concerning his mission. “While I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in vain, I have exhausted myself for nothing’; and all the while my cause was with the Lord, my reward with my God.” So, while God’s foreknowledge of him and the mission given to him was the source of stability of John the Baptist, his lack of faith in the word of God and ignorance of his true mission was the source of fear and instability. We suffer the same doubt with him because we lack a deep knowledge of Jesus Christ.

John the Baptist is the greatest of all born of women because all of us were conceived and born in sin. but he was conceived in sin but sanctified before birth. We are greater than him through Jesus Christ our Lord. Like the Baptist, we are all foreknown in God before we were formed. Though he is better than us at his natural birth, we are better than John the Baptist at our supernatural birth which came through Jesus Christ our Lord. The honour and clarity of our supernatural birth are beyond any comparison. We are born into heaven within our natural life through the baptism we have received in Jesus Christ. The divine light that has shone upon us drives away every fear and doubt from our hearts if we keep our gaze on the Lord who is eternal Light. The Baptist did not have the privilege of being born into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the privilege Paul spoke of in the second reading from Acts of Apostles. “Before John ended his career he said, “I am not the one you imagine me to be; that one is coming after me and I am not fit to undo his sandal.”” We must keep our gaze on Jesus Christ to achieve stability in our lives and vocation as Christians. We must never doubt the identity of the Son of God and his mission which we share with him. We must come to know God’s complete knowledge of us, so that we may attain fullness of salvation and peace.

Let us pray: O God, who raised up Saint John the Baptist to make ready a nation fit for Christ the Lord, give your people, we pray, the grace of spiritual joys and direct the hearts of all the faithful into the way of salvation and peace.