Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Saturday all of us come together to celebrate the occasion of the great Solemnity in honour of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, the one whom the Lord had sent to be His own Herald, in proclaiming His coming into this world, and to prepare the path and everything for His entry and appearance in our midst. On this day, we truly give thanks to God for His gift of St. John the Baptist, the holy servant whom He had sent to be in our midst, to call us from our slumber in the darkness so that by his efforts and works, many would be stirred and come to seek the Lord and His forgiveness, that more and more might be saved, and be prepared to welcome the Lord Himself, coming into our midst.

St. John the Baptist was born not long before the Lord Himself, as there was a short period of time when both him and our Lord and Saviour were both in their mothers’ wombs. At the time when Mary, the Mother of God visited Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist, not long before the latter’s birth, both of them were still in the womb, and it was then that St. John the Baptist recognised the coming of his Lord and Master, Who was in the womb of Mary, Elizabeth’s own relative and cousin. And like that of our Lord Himself, the pregnancy that gave rise to the birth and coming of St. John the Baptist was also miraculous, in that his mother Elizabeth was already very old and way past child-bearing age.

Yet, the Lord chose Elizabeth to bear the child who would become the Herald of the Messiah, revealing the news to Zechariah, his father, at the Temple through His Archangel, which according to the Church and Apostolic traditions, was the Archangel Gabriel, the same one who would then go on to visit Mary to tell her of the even greater Good News of the coming of the Saviour of the world. Through these two good news delivered by the Archangel to both Elizabeth and Mary therefore, the world has finally come to see the Light of God’s salvation, which He has long promised to us all, to His beloved ones, who have long been suffering under the dominion and the tyranny of sin.

St. John the Baptist was born into his family and into this world as an occasion of great joy, both for his family who had not been able to have any children at all, and then for the world because through St. John the Baptist, the Lord would finally reveal the last parts of His long prepared plan of salvation for each and every one of us. St. John the Baptist, as we all should know, would go on to do great deeds among God’s people, becoming known as the Baptist or the Baptiser because he called a great throng of countless thousands or more, to come to the Lord and to commit themselves once again to His cause, with the baptism at the River Jordan as the symbolic and tangible commitment of the people’s desire to return to God with repentance.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what is the significance of this Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist is to us? This Solemnity is a reminder for all of us of everything that God had done for us, and in how He has always fulfilled everything that he has promised us, in showing us His ever tender mercy, love and compassion. That He sent us all His servants, repeatedly from time to time, and gave us guidance through His messengers and through His Church, and by giving us all His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ, the Divine Word Incarnate and Son of God, to be our Saviour, by suffering and dying for our sake, God wants us all to know that He truly loves us all, and He wants us to embrace the salvation that He has so freely offered to us.

In our first reading this day, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which God revealed to His people, to all of us through Isaiah, of everything that He had done for us, in sending us His servants, whom He had called and chosen, like Isaiah himself, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Elijah, Elisha, and earlier on still, Moses, and other leaders and elders of the people, and like St. John the Baptist himself, all of whom had been entrusted with the particular missions and vocations, with purpose and commitments for them to help lead the people of God, us mankind, back to the Lord, our most loving God and Saviour. The Lord had prepared St. John the Baptist to be His servant, from before he was even born, telling that to his parents, revealing to them just how important his role would be. That is what we have also heard in our Gospel passage today, as God foretold the great deeds that St. John the Baptist would do.

As Christians, all of us should be inspired by the great examples set by St. John the Baptist, whose contributions are not limited only just by what he had done in baptising the countless thousands and more at the River Jordan. It was his faithfulness and his dedication to the Lord which should inspire us all to follow his good examples and faith as well. Not only that, but St. John the Baptist also showed us great courage and steadfastness in faith, in courageously opposing even the powerful ones at his time, the teachers of the Law and the chief priests, whom he scolded and criticised as the band of vipers for their lack of faith, hypocrisy and mismanagement of the people, and also King Herod, whom St. John the Baptist criticised for his immoral and adulterous behaviour with his brother’s wife, Herodias.

St. John the Baptist, who did not fear persecution and oppression, and who gave his whole life and efforts to the service of God, is a paragon of virtue and Christian discipleship, and all of us as Christians should be inspired to walk in the same path that St. John the Baptist had traversed, and be inspired by his great courage and commitment to God. He is a great role model for us all, in how each and every one of us should be living our lives as well, with great virtue and commitment to God, and in doing whatever it is that we have been entrusted by God to do with our lives, in our respective areas of responsibilities, and in our various vocations in the Church and in this world, in doing our best to glorify God by our lives.

In addition, there is also one more great virtue that St. John the Baptist had, which all of us should very well emulate as well in our own lives, and that is one of obedience and humility. In his commitment to God, St. John the Baptist was thoroughly committed to his mission and he did not do anything for himself or for his own selfish purposes and desires. Like what St. Paul said in the second reading today in his Epistle, in which the Apostle directly quoted St. John the Baptist himself saying that he himself was not the Messiah, and he was not even worthy to untie the straps of His sandals. This was the response that St. John the Baptist gave to all those who asked him and wondered if he was the Messiah long awaited by the people of God. Given how popular St. John the Baptist had been, he could have claimed that he was the Messiah that the people awaited for, but he did not do that, and he was even also glad when he heard that the Lord was gaining more and more followers, saying that it was just right that while He increased, that he decreased. Such was the virtue and the humility that St. John the Baptist has shown, and which we all should emulate in our own lives.

May St. John the Baptist, Holy Herald of the Lord and His faithful servant, continue to pray and intercede for us all, that God may continue to guide and strengthen each and every one of us in our lives and in our works, so that we may truly be worthy of Him, and be committed in living our lives most worthily and faithfully in all things, in our every words, actions and deeds, at all times. May God bless us all, in our every efforts and endeavours, now and always, forevermore. Amen.