24 June 2020
Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
It does not seem right. It was not four weeks ago here in Wisconsin that the leaves appeared on the trees and now the days are getting shorter. Although the days officially begin to shorten on either the 20th or the 21st, the church settled on the feast of John the Baptist on the 24 because of one line in scripture in which John the Baptist places himself in reference to Jesus: “I must decrease and he must increase.” This same idea caused Christmas to be at the end of December when the days started getting brighter, the indication of Christ as the light of the world. Although this astronomical allegory falls flat in Melbourne, Australia and other parts of the southern hemisphere, it does indicate how the early church saw creation in relation to divine revelation. One inspiration we can take from these alliances between the heavens and our faith is the realization that we should be attuned to how God speaks to us, looking at the beauty of the seasons (even in Wisconsin) as one of many manifestations of God’s action in the world.