24 June 2019
Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
The birth of St. John the Baptist is more of a celebration in honor of our Heavenly Father, faithful to his promises. The vocation of John resembles that of his cousin Jesus. An angel announced to their respective mothers the future birth of each. Elizabeth was sterile; Mary a virgin. By the miraculous intervention of God, both conceived.
Jesus’ mother and John’s father gave praise to God for his gifts: for humbling the proud and exalting the humble; for his faithful love to guide our feet in peace. John would preach the coming of the kingdom and would baptize Jesus, who made that kingdom a reality.
Today I shall ask the saints and angels who were witnesses to the births of John the Baptist and Jesus to pray that I be given greater insight into the gifts the Father has lavished on me for my own salvation and the salvation of those he puts beside me along the path to his heavenly kingdom.