John The Baptist

On the Nativity of John the Baptist, the church invites us to share the gladness that blessed the lives of Elizabeth and Zechariah in the birth of their son.

Certainly John, like all newborns, must have received amounts of attention all out of proportion to his tiny size. But the baby who disrupted the settled lifestyle of his aged parents would grow up to unsettle the stifling status-quos of his contemporaries.

This child came to realise that he was “wonderfully made,” in the words of today’s responsorial psalm (Psalms 139:14). He was wonderfully made for a most wonderful mission to God’s people. Filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb, John was to bring the chosen people back to their God, so that God could come close to them in the person of the beloved Son.

Let us pray.
 
O God, You raised up St. John the Baptist
to prepare a perfect people for Christ.
Fill Your people with the joy of possessing His grace,
and direct the minds of all the faithful
in the way of peace and salvation.
 
Grant that as St. John was martyred for truth and justice,
so we may energetically profess our Faith in You,
and lead others to the Way, the Truth, and Eternal Life.
 
Amen.

Content taken from http://thecentralminnesotacatholic.org
Prayer taken from https://columban.org. Thanks to our Columban colleagues for sharing.

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