YEAR B: HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE BIRTH OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST
HOMILY THEME: WE ARE CALLED TO PROCLAIMÂ GOD’S PRESENCE AND HIS WORKS TO EVERYONE.
BY: Fr. Abbot Philip Lawrence,
My sisters and brothers in Jesus Christ,
Instead of the regular Sunday Mass, today we have the Birth of Saint John the Baptist. John the Baptist has a huge role in the life of Jesus and prepares others to know of the coming of salvation and of Jesus. John the Baptist was recognized as a strong religious presence before Jesus was recognized—and John always points to Jesus. In the same way, you and I must learn always to point to Jesus by the way we live our lives and in our speaking, writing and thinking.
The first reading today is from the Prophet Isaiah. Isaiah tells us of his own awareness that God had called him to be a servant of God’s presence in all that he does. Isaiah realized that God had created him to testify to God’s presence and to proclaim God’s presence in his life. This reading reflects an awareness that many of the prophets had that God wants us all to reflect the mysteries of God and to point to God by everything in our lives.
You and I are invited today to know that God is also calling us in the same way, with the same intensity. God loves us. God wants us. God wants us to proclaim His presence and His works to everyone. Most of us don’t do that in our lives, but our not doing it does not change God’s wanting it.
The second reading is from the Acts of the Apostles. It reflects another human trait: when we someone good, we tend to think of them not only as set apart, but better than ourselves. The challenge is that God wants us all to be saints. The word “saint” makes us think of someone better than ourselves. God wants us all to be saints, not to look better than others, but to reflect His goodness and love to all. It is always the challenge of doing only what God wants. This is the challenge of spiritual combat and we are all invited to such spiritual combat.
Saint John the Baptist took up the challenge of doing God’s will and tried to do God’s will with all his being. John the Baptist took up the spiritual combat of not doing his will but God’s will.
The Gospel today, from Saint Luke, tells the things that happened before the birth of John the Baptist. The neighbors all knew that there was something special about this child. We can all claim that there was nothing special about our birth, but it is not so. The birth of new life, of a new child, is always special—but we don’t pay attention to that aspect. Today as there are fewer and fewer births in the western world, we begin to see how special each one is. Only as we begin to pay attention to God do we begin to understand how special each human being is and how each human being can draw others to God and to the mysteries of faith.
May we come to know how special each life is, our own included, and how each of us can point to the Lord Jesus and draw others to Him.
Homily by Fr. Abbot Philip Lawrence, OSB
Christ in the Desert Monastery, Abiquiu, New Mexico
