Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Lk 1: 57-66. 80
June 24, 2023 | Saturday

Today’s Gospel

When the time came for Elizabeth, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the merciful Lord had done a wonderful thing for her, and they rejoiced with her.

When, on the eighth day, they came to attend the circumcision of the child, they wanted to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, “Not so; he shall be called John.” They said to her, “But no one in your family has that name!” and they made signs to his father for the name he wanted to give him. Zechariah asked for a writing tablet, and wrote on it, “His name is John;” and they were very surprised. Immediately, Zechariah could speak again, and his first words were in praise of God.

A holy fear came on all in the neighborhood, and throughout the hill country of Judea the people talked About these events. All who heard of it, pondered in their minds, and wondered, “What will this child be?” For they understood that the hand of the Lord was with him.

One of the esteemed characteristics of St. John the Baptist is that most of his life, if not all, was spent in dedication to the Messiah. The Gospel of Luke even wrote that he already leaped with joy and expressed the significance of Jesus’ presence even while they were still in their mothers’ wombs. The Scripture passage used for today’s first reading addresses the prophet Isaiah as Israel. The prophet here is personified as the nation of Israel, through which, God shall be known by the rest of the people of God. The same attribute can be applied to St. John, a prophet who also personifies the anticipation and preparation of Israel for the Messiah. Let us learn from St. John his willingness and humility to decrease so that Christ may increase in prestige through us./Vulnerasti, 2023