Normally, the Church celebrates the day of a saint’s death as his feast day, because that day celebrates that person’s entrance into heaven and eternal life with our Lord. However, in addition to celebrating Christ’s birth on December 25 and the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on September 8, we celebrate the nativity of John the Baptist today on June 24. We Christians interpret the life of John the Baptist as a preparation for the coming of Jesus; this is why John’s birth is so important to us and why we celebrate this solemnity today in our liturgical calendar. John’s parents were Zechariah, a Jewish priest, and his wife Elizabeth. They were beyond child bearing age and were without children when John’s birth was announced by the Angel Gabriel. Zechariah did not believe this message, so he was rendered speechless until the time of John’s birth.
The nativity of John the Baptist is one of the oldest feasts celebrated in the universal Church, being listed in a calendar of feasts in the early 6th century. Today’s feast comes three months after the celebration of the annunciation on March 25 when the Archangel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary that her cousin Elizabeth was with child and was in the sixth month of her pregnancy. It also comes six months before Christmas. So how is the feast of the nativity of John the Baptist relevant to us today as modern disciples of Christ? As we celebrate John’s birth today, we can remember how we can be like St John the Baptist, as John leapt with joy in his mother’s womb the first time he was in the presence of Jesus. We, too, should leap for joy as we encounter Jesus’ presence on our journey and as we announce his presence to the world. We are to do this by not only our words, but our actions as well. On the feast of the nativity of St John the Baptist, may we ask him to help us have the strength and courage to announce the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world
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