Gospel Reflection of the Solemnity of the Nativity of John the Baptist – Sunday 24th June 2018

The Franciscans in the Holy Land have a big weekend festival for the feast of the nativity of St. John the Baptist.  On Saturday, they will travel to a lovely shrine called St. John in the Desert where they will celebrate evening prayer and a party with local folks to commemorate what John the Baptist would become in his mission as herald.  Then on Sunday, they go to the town of ein Karem in the hill country of Judea near Jerusalem to recall his birth.  Both places connect pilgrims to this key figure in the story of salvation.

Luke gives us the stories of the birth of John and the birth of Jesus as parallel accounts.  Luke enhances both stories with a miraculous quality and characters who react in various ways.  For example, both stories cause fear and amazement in people.  The loosening of the tongue of Zachariah who is John’s father and the host of angels appearing to shepherds at the birth of Jesus are both stories of amazement and both stories are told and retold to this day.  Luke also focuses in both stories on identity. ‘What then will this child be?’, people ask of John.  In today’s Gospel, Luke takes the adult John the Baptist into the desert where his mission as bridge between the Old and New Testament as herald of the Messiah will unfold.  And of course from the birth story of Jesus we learn of his identity, the one in whom God’s promises have been fulfilled.  In both stories there are characters who might seem a lot like us.  On this feast of John the Baptist, let’s put ourselves into the story.  With Elizabeth and Zachariah we can admit that God has intervened in our lives in a special way.  With the neighbours and relatives, we might be sceptical or fearful at times or simply question what all this means.  And like John the Baptist, we can become those who make straight the way of the Lord.

Fr. Gregory