The Catholic Calendar for Friday, June 24, 2005
Friday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Isaiah 49:1-6
Psalm 139:1-3, 13-15
Acts 13:22-26
Luke 1:57-66,80

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

Indeed what will this child be--a question each of us asks at a birth, but how much more so when the birth is accompanied by such prodigies as those accompanying the birth of St. John the Baptist. What was John the Baptist to be?

He was the herald of the Kingdom of God, and the announcer of the coming of the Messiah. He was an example for all of us. Why? Because we are all called to share the good news--to tell everyone in all nations about the joy of the Lord. We are God's heralds. Often we are the voices crying out in the wilderness of sin and self-involvement, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord."

John the Baptist was the prototype. We are called to carry on his mission and to imitate the One he announced. John is shown to us as the good and faithful servant, who abided in God's ways and who was instrumental in the reformation of the world. His birth was the first announcement of that Greater Birth which was soon to come. His joy in the womb is our joy in the painful childbirth that will lead us all to heaven.

Dear Lord, through the prayers of St. John the Baptist, may we be your heralds, messengers, and prophets in the world today. May we be the instruments of your love to those who are without love. May we be the hands, face, and heart of Jesus to those who are in distress. In your mercy grant this for the good of your Kingdom, O Lord. Amen.

- JuandelaCruz
(http://floscarmeli.stblogs.org/)

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