June 24, 2012

“ For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

First Reading: Is 49:1-6

Hear me, O coastlands,
listen, O distant peoples.
The LORD called me from birth,
from my mother's womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword
and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.
He made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me,
Israel, through whom I show my glory.

Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
yet my reward is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God.
For now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Resp. Psalm: Ps 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15

Second Reading: Acts 13:22-26

In those days, Paul said:

"God raised up David as king;

of him God testified,

I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart;

he will carry out my every wish.

From this man's descendants God, according to his promise,

has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.

John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance

to all the people of Israel;

and as John was completing his course, he would say,

'What do you suppose that I am' I am not he.

Behold, one is coming after me;

I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet."

"My brothers, sons of the family of Abraham,

and those others among you who are God-fearing,

to us this word of salvation has been sent."

Gospel:  Lk 1:57-66, 80

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child

she gave birth to a son.

Her neighbors and relatives heard

that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,

and they rejoiced with her.

When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,

they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,

but his mother said in reply,

"No. He will be called John."

But they answered her,

"There is no one among your relatives who has this name."

So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.

He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name,"

and all were amazed.

Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,

and he spoke blessing God.

Then fear came upon all their neighbors,

and all these matters were discussed

throughout the hill country of Judea.

All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,

"What, then, will this child be?"

For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.

The child grew and became strong in spirit,

and he was in the desert until the day

of his manifestation to Israel.

Reflection

By Gharri Tulabut

Today is a day not suited for those who are not sport or “pikon” especially if you live or go to the cities of Manila or San Juan in the Philippines.

I am talking about the Filipino (or at least some residents of Metro Manila) tradition on the Feast of St. John the Baptist. That is getting people wet by throwing water(or any liquid) on them not until they get wet but until they get mad.

This, of course is a good tradition that just went wrong. So let us not focus on the negatives but rather on the positive things we can learn about the life of the person whose nativity we are celebrating today – St.John the Baptist

Definitely, there are so many things that we can learn about St. John but focusing on today’s readings, here are three important things I learned from his life:

First, is that with God nothing is impossible. In the Gospel today, there is an old couple giving birth to their first born. There is nothing new about that. We all know that God performed miracles. But do we also believe that God still perform miracles? That the God who did all these miracles during the biblical times is still the God that we have today? So, if those miracles do happen before, they can still happen in our times.

Second, is that greatness awaits all the children of God. Sometimes, this greatness would need a little help from the people around. In the case of St. John, it started from prophesying through his name which means “God is gracious”. (I think parents should really make a good effort to pick the right names for their children.) Christ Himself proclaimed in Matthew 11:11 that “History had not known a man born of a woman greater than John the Baptist”.

Third is humility. No matter how great St. John is, he knew his role. He knew how to recognize greatness beyond His own. He was not greedy with fame and power. How I wish many people are like that especially those at work and in the government. But the important thing in recognizing others’ greatness is learning from them and applying them in mastering one’s craft. So that one day, someone else will recognize us and we can pass on the baton to them.

Prayer:

Thank you Lord for Your cousin St.John the Baptist, my model for humility and greatness! May he be a role model for people in all walks of life, especially for those in authority. Amen!