Only three birthdays are celebrated in the liturgy: Jesus, Mary and John the Baptist. Pretty elite company! This reflects the important place that John the Baptist played in the history of salvation. The sermons in the Acts of the Apostles testify to this. The writings of the Fathers of the Church look on John as the boundary, the hinge connecting the Old and the New Testaments. And Jesus thought the world of John. “Among men born of women, no one is greater that John.” The Scriptures suggest that it took John some time to get enthusiastic about Jesus. He didn’t look as John expected. “Are you he who is to come or shall we look for another?” We too often find that God does not come as we would have expected… so we must also keep alert to the surprise of God.
JUNE242016
By Church Staff