"John is his name"
Lk 1: 57-66, 80
The Word for Sunday: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/062418-day-mass.cfm
In the time before the general population was educated and
technology was not even close to electronic means of communication, the “town crier”
served a specific purpose as a way to spread the news both good and bad, among
the town’s folk. With a bell ringing in
his hand or the beat of a drum he carried, the crier would cry out for
attention and the people would gather to hear the latest news from the Royal
Monarch or even catch the local news of the day in the city where they
lived. This crier was even protected by
law because any harm done to him was seen as an attack on the King himself. The phrase, “Don’t shoot the messenger” held
real meaning here.
The point is that the position of the crier was to announce
whatever information he was given and to prepare the populace for a change in
their lifestyle, payment of new taxes, where to go to attend the funeral of a
citizen who just died, and many other things.
His message was crucial to how and where people would live their
lives.
In this Sunday’s celebration of the birth of John the Baptist,
held always on June 24th a Sunday this year, we are reminded of the
one who was to come after him. With
John’s birth a new age was begun. The
One he would cry out for, the message he would deliver, was not one just for
one generation or location but would forever be heard for all humankind. For without his cry, without the message he
would deliver, the coming of Jesus on the scene would have not been framed
well.
John is that voice calling us to wake up, to pay attention, to
take seriously this time and to prepare to welcome the one greater than he who
would realign the social order and the human relationship with God. All this we understand from our Christian
perspective. But the very celebration of
this pivotal biblical figure, if we think for a moment, may bring us
pause.
We call him a Saint, a Christian word in our tradition. Yet, John was not a Christian. In fact, as far as the Scriptures and
tradition imply, John never even was a follower of Jesus. After Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan by John,
John clearly fades into the background.
John was not present for the crucifixion, resurrection or
Pentecost, those very central Jesus events which established the faith. By then, he had already been imprisoned and
executed by the ruthless King Herod. So,
on one sense he has no Christian connection. Yet his life and role as the one
who would prepare the way for the imminent appearance of Jesus on the scene
forever ties him to the good news of the New Testament and the fulfillment of
the Covenant God had made with his chosen people, now expanded to include all
humanity in the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.
John the Baptist, then, held a specific purpose and in his
birth we see him as a transitional figure who reminds us that with his coming
the Old Testament was ended and a new one was to begin. The prophets of ancient Israel were masters
at interpreting the signs of their time.
They called out like criers bringing people to attention and presenting
a message of both God’s mercy and warning.
In essence, telling the people of their time that God has seen what’s
happening. That God has a plan, a way
out of their sin and unfaithfulness.
That God is inviting them to repentance and in return he would renew
their lives and restore for them a new beginning.
But they killed the prophets and rejected the message they
brought them. Yet, God did not give
up. He sent John as the last and final
voice in the desert to tell us that despite our rejection of earlier prophets,
this one would finally turn us to listen to the greatest of them all: Jesus who
would fulfill all that God was originally calling humanity to embrace with a
new direction and a renewed relationship with God (forgiveness of sin and good
news) that would forever reestablish a broken covenant that now would be
fulfilled and fleshed out in Christ Jesus.
So, the feast today might call us to read the signs of the
times. The place of this remembrance in
June may even teach us something about reading the signs of the times in the
spirit of John. As the Church has placed this feast of John’s birth six months
before that of Jesus in December, we see light in the northern hemisphere has
slowly begun to decrease. Once John’s
mission was completed, his light began to wane, and the true light of Jesus,
born in December then begins to shine more prominently. John proclaimed in reference to Jesus: “I must
decrease while he must increase.”
So, nature herself reminds us today of the work of God.
Do we see this? Do we
approach life with eyes wide open, searching for the action of the Spirit in my
life, or do I have them shut, distracted, seeking something or someone else to
fulfill my greatest need? What is the light I stand in - the way of Christ or
do I walk in search for another?
John’s birth was surrounded by those who recognized the action
of God: Elizabeth, Zachariah, Mary,
Joseph and others who found themselves caught up in the plan of God, in spite
of great odds against them: Elizabeth’s old age and Zachariah’s as well, Mary’s
youthful state in life.
Although Christ may be hidden from us under ordinary signs, as
in the Holy Eucharist each week, nonetheless his presence in our midst urges us
to weigh all things in light of this truth.
Like John’s birth, may we find ourselves more trusting.
O God, who raised up St. 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.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever.
(Collect of Mass)
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