The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist (June 24)
Barrenness and prophesy are two interconnected themes which
permeate the feast of the BaptistÕs nativity. ElizabethÕs barrenness is used by God to reveal his love for
the entire creation. This divine love,
expressed in divine power and glory, enables the cousin of the Virgin to
conceive. The conception and birth
of St. John points to the termination not only of the barrenness of Zachariah
and Elizabeth but also that of cosmic barrenness. Sin and death had rendered the creation incapable of nurturing
and sustaining life. For the reign
of death, traced back to AdamÕs fall, aborted all life which was destined from
all eternity to abide in the bosom of God.
Today we celebrate and bear witness to the unfolding of the
creationÕs renewal now affirmed in the birth of John the Baptist. Previously bound to death, the creation
begins to reflect its true identity.
From the barrenness of Elizabeth emerges the forerunner of the one who
is life.
Celebrating the nativity of St. John should be an expression
of our thanks to God who has delivered us from the horrible barrenness of
death, which not only robs us of our biological existence but strives to impair
and ultimately smother the creative powers of the mind and heart. Consequently, human creativity, now
imbued with hope and life, is urged on by divine love to transcend its inherent
limitations. Finding its highest
expression in true worship human creativity is joined to divine life. The human person and his unique energy
gradually, through ascetic effort, achieves harmony with the divine energy and
hence the unfolding of the eternal ascent into the kingdom which is to come.
As members of the body of Christ, we are endowed with a
prophetic calling. We are to
proclaim and to show that the barrenness of creation has been filled with
life. In the midst of desolation,
God has brought John, the greatest of prophets, to prepare the way of the
Lord. Like St. John, we are to
continue announcing the prophetic word which awakens the creation from the
barren slumber of sin. Like St.
John, we are commissioned to lead an anxious and searching humanity to
repentance by which it is drawn into the embrace of the Life Giver.
St. John prepared Israel for the coming of the Messiah. His call to repentance and baptism
formed a faithful remnant that awaited the coming of the Messiah. It was this remnant that helped to
provide the human component of the Church. Now we are responsible for continuing the call to
repentance, which leads to the baptism of water and the Spirit. This is the baptism that enables
humanity to become one with the sacred Passover which takes us from death to
life. This is the baptism that
compels us to prophesy the LordÕs glorious second coming.
The feast of the BaptistÕs birth affirms the victory of
regenerated and transfigured life.
New life emerging from the barrenness of sin and death is the joyous
core of our feast. Here is the
beginning and end of the ChurchÕs mission to and for the world.
Amen.
Copyright © 2003 by Father Robert M. Arida