Birth of St. John the Baptist
June 24th, 2010
“What then will this child be?”
Luke 1:66
Today’s Gospel gives the account of the birth and circumcision of John the Baptist.
What we possibly like especially about John the Baptist is his courage in challenging people to change their way of life. Today, it seems to be more difficult for everyone to proclaim with joy and enthusiasm that one is a person of faith and prepared to name things that are both right and wrong. John the Baptist’s fearless proclamation gives courage to us all.
John the Baptist is the last of the great prophets: he is referred to as the precursor. Jesus himself would pay tribute to John later in life. He turned to the people and asked: “What did you go out into the desert to see? …. A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. Among those born of women, there is no greater than John the Baptist.” No man ever fulfilled his God-given purpose better than John.
A degree of challenge and pain brings out the best in us. We moan of pressures in everyday existence, but can life be really problem-free? Discipleship is a long journey: we do not know where it will lead. For John the Baptist it led to death, when he had the courage to challenge Herod himself.
Prayer
Lord, give me the courage to stand up for what I believe to be true and right.
The prayer for each day has been prepared by various members of the Holy Family Association. All who visit our website are remembered in prayer. If you would like us to pray for a particular need, simply complete and submit the form on the right hand side of this page. You may wish to leave a comment in the space below.
Just a Thought
How the Holy Family prayer: A Reflection by Pope Benedict XVI
“I would like to invite you to reflect on the place of prayer in the life of the Holy Family of Nazareth. The home of Nazareth, in fact, is a school of prayer where we learn to listen, to ponder and to penetrate the profound meaning of the manifestation of the Son of God, drawing our example from Mary, Joseph and Jesus.
Pope Paul VI during his visit to Nazareth said “we come to understand the need for a spiritual discipline, if we wish to follow the teaching of the Gospel and become disciples of Christ.” And he added: “First, it teaches us silence. Oh! That there would be reborn in us the esteem for silence, that wonderful and indispensable atmosphere of the spirit: while we are deafened by so many noises, sounds and clamorous voices in the frantic and tumultuous times of modern life. Oh! Silence of Nazareth, teach us to be resolute in good thoughts, intent upon the interior life, ready to listen well to the secret inspirations of God and the exhortations of the true masters.”
We can glean several insights on the Holy Family’s prayer and relationship with God from the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ childhood. We may begin with the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. St. Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph, “when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, brought the child up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord”(2:22). Like every observant Jewish family, Jesus’ parents go up to the temple to consecrate the firstborn son to God and to offer sacrifice. Moved by fidelity to the law’s prescriptions, they set off from Bethlehem and go up to Jerusalem with Jesus, who is now forty days old. Instead of a one-year-old lamb, they present the offering of simple families; that is two young pigeons. The Holy Family’s pilgrimage is one of faith, of the offering of gifts, a symbol of prayer, and of encounter with the Lord, whom Mary and Joseph already see in the son Jesus.”
