Deacon Tom Anthony

Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist - Mass during the Day
Lectionary: 587

Reading 1 Is 49:1-6

Hear me, O coastlands,
listen, O distant peoples.
The LORD called me from birth,
from my mother's womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword
and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.
He made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me,
Israel, through whom I show my glory.

Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
yet my reward is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God.
For now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15

R. (14) I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
O LORD, you have probed me, you know me:
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R. I praise you for I am wonderfully made.
Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother's womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.
R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
My soul also you knew full well;
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.
R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.

Reading 2 Acts 13:22-26

In those days, Paul said:
"God raised up David as king;
of him God testified,
I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart;
he will carry out my every wish.
From this man's descendants God, according to his promise,
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.
John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance
to all the people of Israel;
and as John was completing his course, he would say,
'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he.
Behold, one is coming after me;
I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.'

"My brothers, sons of the family of Abraham,
and those others among you who are God-fearing,
to us this word of salvation has been sent."

Alleluia See Lk 1:76

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Lk 1:57-66, 80

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child
she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
"No. He will be called John."
But they answered her,
"There is no one among your relatives who has this name."
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name,"
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
"What, then, will this child be?"
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.
The child grew and became strong in spirit,
and he was in the desert until the day
of his manifestation to Israel.

My Brothers and Sisters,

 As John the Baptist was the Voice Crying Out in the Desert telling all to prepare the way of the Lord, so we too are called to do the same. It is a commissioning of sorts to evangelize the faith and to proclaim the Good News of Salvation through Jesus Christ. What we posses in the form of the truth must be continuously shared throughout the world. The Light of Christ is within all of us and can be displayed in all of its beauty and glory by how we react to it and how we let its presence shape our lives. Isaiah tells us that Israel will be made the light of nations and through it salvation will reach the ends of the earth. That light is Jesus Christ and we are possessors of that light. With that light comes a message and we, like John the Baptist, are commanded to bring that message to everyone we interact with.

God knows us. God understands us. God loves us. From the moment we were conceived in our mother’s womb He loved us completely. So here we are emerging from the desert of our existence without Him to now accept Him completely. John the Baptist provides the invitation and the revelation, presenting the message which is the culmination of everything that has come before and presents it before us. As Christians, we know this message and we understand the importance of it. Now the challenge is to treat it with the importance that it has. John accepted his office and reacted to the presence of Jesus Christ. To fully experience what John experienced, we need to immerse ourselves in it just like he did. Every moment of every day should posses some form of this message in what we say and what we do. Everything must be done in the name of Jesus Christ. Nothing is too small to include the presence of Jesus Christ, for where He is not is where Satan will be ready to drag us back into the desert of self-destruction.

All of the prophets throughout history each carried a message and a revelation from God. John the Baptist was the last of the prophets carrying the message of The Incarnation: Jesus Christ arriving in the flesh. This event long foretold through human history marks the Last Age which belongs to Jesus Christ. We all are witnesses to the culmination of everything that has led up to this awesome moment. It is through this event we must observe and experience everything in our lives. Now that the Son of God has been revealed we then need to reflect on how we are going to react to it. Are we going to be part of this event and the message it brings or are we going to separate ourselves from it? Are we going to live our lives without the influence of Jesus or are we going to surrender to Him so that He may transform us daily? There can be no lukewarm reaction to what is being presented. There can be no compromises. Compromises lead to self-justification and self-justification leads to sin: a separation from God.

Many times when we are living our lives we can find ourselves asking a simple question repeatedly: “What do we want?” This is usually done consciously or subconsciously before even the smallest actions are initiated on our part. Through the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives and the surrendering of our own will to that of God’s, this question should be replaced with, “What does God want?” If this simple act is done continuously, then only good things can abound. Our perceptions and understanding of God and our relationship with Him will fundamentally change. With that, our lives will also change. Don’t we want our lives to change? If so, then we must embrace the message of John the Baptist, experience the message, and spread the message of John the Baptist.

Deacon Tom Anthony