THE BIRTH OF THE GREATEST BORN OF WOMAN

NATIVITY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

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

The Word and the Voice

We celebrate the solemnity of the birth of John the Baptist. The celebration of his birth as a solemn feast is a privilege that the Church accords only to a few people, namely, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and John the Baptist. The celebration, therefore, shows the great honour accorded to the precursor of Jesus Christ. The celebration of the birth of John the Baptist highlights the goodness of human nature, created by God. As we have very often considered, our nature is made to house God Himself, who is goodness and the ultimate good and end of our nature. So, man is at his best when he is in total submission to God, our Creator. Subsequently, our nature comes to nothing when we turn away from God to creatures, which is what sin is. Sin, which is disobedience to God, renders our nature unfit for God and for his divine purpose.

As Paul reminded us on Sunday, that sin entered the world through one man's act of disobedience, our nature always needs the grace of sanctification to cooperate with God after the original fall. The grace, which comes from Jesus Christ, is to bring us back to obedience to God. So, grace enters the human nature through the act of obedience of one man, who is Jesus Christ, our Lord. The sanctification that John the Baptist received in the womb is to prepare him to carry out the divine will for him. The purpose of the choice of John the Baptist is what the scriptural prophecies reveal in the passages we have. The prophet Isaiah captured this about John the Baptist and his sanctification in the womb. “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.” The scripture also points out that the purpose of his sanctification in the womb is to dedicate him to the doing of God's will; it is the reversal of the effect of sin. This is the case not only for John the Baptist, but for any grace of sanctification that comes to us. Grace of sanctification, or grace in general, is to bring us to conformity with the will of God.

In this sense, the grace of sanctification of John the Baptist is from Jesus Christ, as the perfect Son of Man, the incarnation of the Son of God, who reveals the Father to all. The light of Jesus Christ shines on all, disposing each person to cooperate with God. “And now the Lord has spoken, he who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, to gather Israel to him: ‘It is not enough for you to be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel; I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’” John the Baptist's prenatal sanctification validates our celebration of his birthday as a solemnity. The important role of John is the role of the Precursor of Christ. He prepared the people for Christ and introduced him when he appeared on the scene. Saint Paul referred to John the Baptist in this regard and used him to present the Gospel and the Risen Lord to the Jews. “To keep his promise, God has raised up for Israel one of David’s descendants, Jesus, as Saviour, whose coming was heralded by John when he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the whole people of Israel.”

The Gospel tells the miraculous recovery of speech by Zechariah at the naming of John. Many Church Fathers saw the recovery of Zechariah's speech as a sign and the confirmation of John the Baptist’s role as the voice crying in the wilderness. “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.” John the Baptist teaches us to consecrate ourselves to God’s will through his life. He gave himself wholeheartedly to carry out God’s plan for him until the end. Our Lord himself praised John the Baptist for his faithful dedication, which is the cause of his greatness. Like John, we have received the grace of sanctification through Jesus Christ. What is important is our dedication to God's grace and the fulfilment of his divine will for our lives. John the Baptist, who is the greatest born of woman, taught us to use our human nature to serve the cause of the coming of Jesus Christ within us and in the world.

Let us pray: O God, who raised up Saint John the Baptist to make a ready 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. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.