Skip to main content

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist: Feast Day June 24th

Did you know that the Church only celebrates three birthdays on the liturgical calendar? Christmas—the Lord's birthday, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Sept. 8th), and the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24th). When we think about this, we are reminded that Jesus said, “All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John” (Matthew 11:13). Saint John the Baptist is the last great prophet, the prophet to come before the Lord. We hear John the Baptist proclaim, "He must increase; I must decrease" (John 3:30). As we celebrate the birthday of Saint John the Baptist today, let’s reflect on his boldness, yet even more his humility. John the Baptist was bold in proclaiming the word of God and preparing people for the coming of Jesus, yet I believe his humility is even more powerful. Everything he did, he did for the glory of God, not for his own glory. He had a growing following, he was known throughout the land, yet he proclaimed, “I must decrease.” John the Baptist had no qualms with stepping away from the limelight, from recognizing that his mission was to follow and adhere to the will of God. Are we bold, yet even more importantly, humble like Saint John the Baptist? Can he serve as an inspiration for us as we think about what our purpose is for doing something? Saint John the Baptist, pray that we may have the courage to be bold in doing the mission God has created just for us and to listen to and follow his will, and pray that we will have the humility to recognize that everything we do and/or accomplish is because of God’s grace and should, therefore, glorify Him, not our own ego or pride. Amen.

Celebrating with a Food-Craft:

Since John the Baptist would grow up and eat locusts and wild honey, for a fun birthday treat make tasty fruit and vegetable bugs. “Good Housekeeping” has great ideas/recipes you can use for inspiration. You can even get creative and invent your own creepy-crawly snacks. I couldn’t resist using the word “creepy,” because I gotta say I love how the mini-series “The Chosen” calls Saint John the Baptist “Creepy John.” 




Celebrating with a Prayer:

Here is a prayer I wrote that you and your family can say together. You can even print it out and decorate around the words with pieces of construction paper to make it have a collage/mosaic appearance, or draw and color pictures and/or designs. Here is a printable version.

Oh, John the Baptist, how blessed you were! Friend and cousin to the Son of God, the voice crying out in the wilderness, proclaiming the way of the Lord; courageous, not caring what others or the world thought of you, and above all humble to the Son of God and the will of the Father. Pray for us, that we may be courageous, like you, in proclaiming the word of God; that we may live apart from the world, knowing our true home is not of this world, and humble, so we may hear the word of God whispering to our souls. Saint John the Baptist, ever an inspiration in these difficult times, pray for us and for the world. Amen.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saint Margaret Mary

Saint Margaret Mary: Feast Day October 16th  “Look upon yourself as a tree planted beside water, which bears its fruit in due season; the more it is shaken by the wind, the deeper it strikes its roots into the ground.” ~ Saint Margaret Mary ~ Faith is a gift—an undeserved and valuable grace granted by the Holy Spirit. Each of us has the capacity to seek The Way, The Truth, and The Life, for this longing has been inscribed within our hearts. Yet, in our free will, we have the choice and ability to ignore and turn from this divine call. Like the image of the tree Saint Margaret Mary describes above, if we seek Jesus and are rooted in our faith, nothing can shake us. Our water is the Church, and Jesus, in the Holy Eucharist, is who makes our roots deep and strong enabling us to withstand the winds of the world and produce good fruit in His name.  Jesus offers us so many opportunities to find Him, and so many ways to live with Him in Heaven. In the 1600s, He appeared to Saint Mar...
Post a Comment
Read more

Baptism of the Lord

Baptism of the Lord: The Last Day of Christmas  “I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11) Today we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. Since Jesus is God and, therefore, sinless and perfect, he didn’t need to be baptized, but by being baptized, he gave us a sacrament for adoption into his family—a means to become children of God. What makes the Sacrament of Baptism important? (1) Baptism claims us as children of God, forgiving us of our sins, (“I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”), it is the first sacrament of initiation into the Church and Her mission, and through Baptism, God gifts us with grace. What exactly is grace? The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines it as: “Grace is favor, the free undeserved help that God gives us to respond to His call to become children of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Saints Joachim and Anne

Saints Joachim and Anne: Feast Day July 26th Have you ever thought about the fact that Jesus had grandparents? When God the Son took on human flesh, he also paced himself within the dynamics of the human family. Although there is no specific reference in the Bible to the Blessed Virgin Mary’s parents by name, the Church celebrates Jesus' maternal grandparents under the names Saint Joachim and Saint Anne. It took a special father and mother to raise, care for, and help prepare the Blessed Virgin Mary for her future vocation and extraordinary relationship with God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and her saintly husband, Saint Joseph; and those special parents were no doubt saints themselves. Speaking of Saint Joseph, his parents would also have been grandparents of the Lord. Celebrating Jesus' grandparents today, reminds us that grandparents are the keepers and transmitters of family history and tradition, and are the patriarchs and matriarchs of families, holding generatio...
Post a Comment
Read more