6/24/2013 – Nativity of John the Baptist – Luke 1:57-66, 80

        A few days ago, we started our commemoration of the Fortnight, which began on June 21 and ends July 4.  Our US Catholic Bishops are asking us to use these days as a call for both prayer and activity on behalf of our first American Freedom — Freedom of Religion.  You might recall that last year we recognized the Fortnight for Freedom when we were in the middle of speaking out against the proposed healthcare legislation in our country that went beyond our Catholic values in the Gospel of Life. 

         In today’s Gospel, we hear how John the Baptist was named according to God’s plan.  Since the time John’s mother Elizabeth and his father Zechariah received news about his birth, since the time Mary went on that special visit to her cousin Elizabeth while she had Jesus in her own womb, it was announced to the world that John would have a special role in the history of salvation.  God made John’s father mute because Zechariah doubted God’s will; his voice was restored when he named his son John according to God’s instructions. The friends and neighbors of Elizabeth and Zechariah were astonished at what they saw – they knew that something special and unique was going on. John himself had a fiery personality, but he channeled his energy and his vocation in life into serving God and speaking out as a prophet who would point the way to Jesus. 

         We can think of the religious freedom we cherish in our country in the context of today’s solemnity of the birth of John the Baptist.  John proclaimed God’s word against the backdrop of a powerful Roman empire.  Herod feared John and his message so much so that John was ultimately imprisoned and beheaded for living out his faith according to God’s will.  Herod did not want to hear the truth in the words of John the Baptist.  As we have seen our religious freedom under attack in our own country in recent years, perhaps the honesty, diligence, and fortitude by which John the Baptist lived out his faith is a good example for all of us to reflect upon.

         We give thanks for the birth of John the Baptist and for the witness he gave in our life.  We also gave thanks for the religious freedom we have, which we need to fight for and protect.