His name is John!

Luke 1:5-17

In the days of King Herod of Judaea there lived a priest called Zechariah who belonged to the Abijah section of the priesthood, and he had a wife, Elizabeth by name, who was a descendant of Aaron. Both were worthy in the sight of God, and scrupulously observed all the commandments and observances of the Lord. But they were childless: Elizabeth was barren and they were both getting on in years.

 

Now it was the turn of Zechariah’s section to serve, and he was exercising his priestly office before God when it fell to him by lot, as the ritual custom was, to enter the Lord’s sanctuary and burn incense there. And at the hour of incense the whole congregation was outside, praying.

 

Then there appeared to him the angel of the Lord, standing on the right of the altar of incense. The sight disturbed Zechariah and he was overcome with fear. But the angel said to him, ‘Zechariah, do not be afraid, your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth is to bear you a son and you must name him John. He will be your joy and delight and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord; he must drink no wine, no strong drink. Even from his mother’s womb he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and he will bring back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah, he will go before him to turn the hearts of fathers towards their children and the disobedient back to the wisdom that the virtuous have, preparing for the Lord a people fit for him.’

Food for thought!

"Among those born of women no one is greater than John" (Luke 7:28). These words which our Lord said about John the Baptist explain why we celebrate this man's birthday. As a rule, the church does not celebrate birthdays but the anniversary of the saint’s death. In the case of John the Baptist we celebrate his death as well as his birth. John is the only saint after Christ whose birth we celebrate with a solemn feast. This is the church’s way of saying with Jesus that “among those born of women no one is greater than John.”

The gospel of today focuses on the name of John. Why does the gospel show such an interest in the name of the child? What’s in a name? In the Bible, just as in many cultures, names function the way business names do, that is, they aim to convey what the bearer of the name stands for.

The name John means “God is gracious.” His birth signals the beginning of a new era in God-human relationship, an era to be characterised by grace and not by law. God himself gave John that name and it was revealed to his father Zachary in a vision, as today's gospels put it. That this name was given to the child already before his birth shows that God has a purpose and plan not only to this child but to all of us. Yes, God had and still has a purpose for each one of us.

The words of Jeremiah in today's first reading apply equally to John, to you, to me, and to everybody. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you came to birth I consecrated you; I have appointed you as prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:4-10)

God has a purpose for His children before they come into this world, and so the challenge of life is for each one of us to discover this purpose and to be faithful to its demands.

The purpose for which God created you may require that you walk to a different drum beat than other people. For John it required that he must drink no wine, no strong drink.

John was born for a purpose: "he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and he will bring back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah, he will go before him to turn the hearts of fathers towards their children and the disobedient back to the wisdom that the virtuous have, preparing for the Lord a people fit for him."

What is God's purpose for you? Why were you born? What are you here on earth for? Do you know your purpose? Are you faithful to it? As we saw yesterday, you are not what people call you; you are what God called you and calls you to do and to be. And, to be faithful to the call of God, we need the courage and discipline to stay on track all the time, all life. John is great today not only because God called him to a special vocation but because he walked faithfully in the path that leads to the goal that God had set for him.

As we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist, let us ask ourselves: what on earth am I here for? If you do not know your God-given name, the name which represents all that God sent you into the world to be and to accomplish, then it is time to find out by listening in private prayer (yesterday's Food for thought). This is because our greatness as children of God, like the greatness of John the Baptist, consists in discovering and being what God has created us to be and do.

If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God, not with yourself. You won't discover your life's meaning by looking at yourself. You didn't create yourself, so there's no way you can tell yourself what you were created for. YOU WERE MADE BY GOD AND FOR GOD, AND UNTIL YOU UNDERSTAND THAT, LIFE WILL NEVER MAKE SENSE TO YOU.