Martin Jumbam
Mother Church celebrates today, June 24, 2018, as the Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist. In the entrance antiphon we pray, “A man was sent from God, whose name was John. He came to testify to the light, to prepare a people fit for the Lord. Amen
Only two other birthdays are celebrated in the Church Calendar: The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Otherwise, saints and blessed are remembered on the date of their death, for the date of their earthly death is seen as the beginning of their eternal life in Heaven.
The first reading of this Mass, from Isaiah, sings a song of welcome to the exiles, who are returning to the Holy City of Jerusalem from Babylon. This comes at a providential time for our people, here in Cameroon, many of whom have been exiled from their homes by senseless wars which, for the most part, are being prosecuted by politicians who have turned a deaf ear to the distress call from our religious leaders for an inclusive dialogue that would restore to our people the peace they once enjoyed.
In the second reading from Acts of the Apostles, Saint Luke tells us of the flourishing Church of Antioch where Paul and Barnabas preach to the pagans. They highlight the role John the Baptist plays as the forerunner of our Lord, who brings the good news of the presence of the Messiah among them.
In the Gospel, Saint Luke presents to us the birth of John the Baptist. It comes exactly three months after the first encounter between John the Baptist and our Lord when they are still in their mothers’ wombs. Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, who is already six months pregnant, and the infant John leaps with joy when he meets our Lord - the scene of the Annunciation. Six months later, we are celebrating the Solemnity of John’s birth today. We pray for the grace to welcome babies as an invaluable gift from God that must be protected at all costs.
First Reading: Isaiah 49: 1-6
Hear me, O coastlands, listen, O distant peoples. The Lord called me from birth, from my mother's womb he gave me my name. He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm. He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me. You are my servant, he said to me, Israel, through whom I show my glory. Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the Lord, my recompense is with my God. For now the Lord has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, that Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; and I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord, and my God is now my strength! It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
Of all the Old Testament Books, pride of place in the liturgy belongs to the Book of Isaiah. We are told in the Book of Sirach that the prophet Isaiah lived in the time of Hezekiah, King of Judah (716-687), and that “he saw the last things, and comforted those who mourned in Zion” (Sirach 48: 22-25). Isaiah, often considered the greatest of the prophets, was born in about 765 BC of a Jerusalem aristocratic family. He received his prophetic vocation in 740 BC and his long ministry spanned a period of over forty years.
In the Christian Bible, the Book of Isaiah is the first of the Major Prophets, not just because Isaiah predates the other writer-prophets but also because his book is the longest and perhaps the most important of all the prophetical books. It is 66 chapters long. The Hebrew Bible also places him first among what it calls the “Later Prophets”, that is, ahead of Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the twelve Minor Prophets, namely, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
The Book of Isaiah is also important because it is the Old Testament book that is most quoted in the New Testament. This means that it is the prophetical book that most clearly announces Jesus Christ. As Saint Jerome once remarked, Isaiah is more a Gospel than a prophecy. Saint Augustine, Saint Jerome’s contemporary, also calls Isaiah an evangelist, not a prophet.
The Book of Isaiah covers three distinct periods of Israel’s history. The first part, chapters 1-39, was written by the prophet himself; the second and third parts were written by other prophets when the people of Israel were in exile in Babylon and after their return from exile.
Chapter 49, from where our reading is taken, marks the second part of Isaiah, the Second Song of the Servant of Yahweh. It sings of the restoration of Zion and the renewal of the people of Israel. Babylon has fallen and the remnants of Israel have returned to the Holy City of Jerusalem. However, the enthusiasm that came with the return from exile and the efforts made to rebuild Jerusalem have failed to produce the desired results and the people are now disillusioned. There are still class differences with the rich people openly exploiting the poor who have just returned from exile.
The kind of Jerusalem the exiles had dreamed of has become an illusion and many are beginning to wonder if it was not better to remain in bondage in exile. This is where the Servant of the Lord comes in to encourage the despondent people, addressing the coastlands and the people from afar, conscious of having been chosen by God from his mother’s womb to carry out God’s plan of salvation. He feels that he has to play a leading role in the recovery of the tribes and the repatriation of the exiles.
This reading speaks directly to us in Cameroon today. Large sections of our land are being destroyed by senseless wars, be it in the north, where foreigners are trying to impose their religious fanaticism on our people, or in the English-speaking parts where political intolerance has led to massive destruction of life and property, and many poor people have been chased off into exile in foreign lands.
We yearn for another Servant of the Lord, who has the love of our people at heart, to silence the guns that are thundering in our land. It is time to stop the killing and start the healing process. May our political leaders pay heed to the call of our church leaders (irrespective of denomination) to come together for an inclusive dialogue that would end this senseless war so the exiles can come back home just as the exiles of Israel returned to their Holy City, Jerusalem. Amen.
Second Reading: Acts 13: 22-26
In those days, Paul said: "God raised up David as king; of him God testified, I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will carry out my every wish. From this man's descendants God, according to his promise, has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus. John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel; and as John was completing his course, he would say, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.' "My brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those others among you who are God-fearing, to us this word of salvation has been sent."
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
The Acts of the Apostles is the fifth book of the New Testament and it is attributed to the evangelist Luke. Both the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles are addressed to one man called Theophilus. This name comes from Greek and means “one who loves God”. It is to him that Luke writes this letter to explain all that Jesus taught until the day he was taken up to heaven.
In the passage for our meditation, Saint Luke presents an account of the church in Antioch, where for the first time Christ’s followers are called “Christians” (Acts 11:26). Paul and Barnabas, inspired by the Holy Spirit, lead the church in Antioch. In his preaching, Paul lists the benefits God has conferred on his chosen people from Abraham down to John the Baptist. He then shows how all the messianic prophecies have been fulfilled in Jesus.
Paul’s address contains all the main themes of apostolic preaching, namely, God’s saving initiative in the history of Israel, and reference to the Precursor, John the Baptist, among others. He proclaims Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, outlining the stages in the history of the chosen people that lead up to Jesus, especially the role played by John the Baptist. He stresses John’s humility when he admits openly that he is not the Messiah the Jewish people have been waiting for. Rather he is just a messenger, who is not even fit to untie the sandals of the one coming after him. He must diminish that Christ must grow (Jn 3: 30).
Let us pray for the grace of humility in imitation of John the Baptist. We pray that our political leaders may humble themselves and heed the cry of our Church leaders for an inclusive dialogue that will bring true peace to our land, the peace which can only come through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
Gospel acclamation
“Alleluia, alleluia. You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way. R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Luke 1: 57-66, 80
When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, "No. He will be called John." But they answered her, "There is no one among your relatives who has this name." So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name," and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, "What, then, will this child be?" For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.
V/ The Gospel of the Lord.
R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Comment
The birth of St John the Baptist comes three months after the celebration on March 25 of the Annunciation. The Archangel Gabriel visits Mary and announces that she has been selected to bear the Savior of the world and then tells her that her cousin Elizabeth, she whom everyone had dismissed as barren, is now in her sixth month of pregnancy. Mary immediately sets out for the hill country of Judea to attend to the needs of her pregnant cousin. The visitation scene provides a wonderful encounter, not only between the two women but also between the two unborn cousins: John and Jesus. Elizabeth rejoices, not only because the mother of her Lord has come visiting, but also because the child in her womb leaps for joy as he welcomes his cousin. In turn, Mary sings her magnificent hymn of praise, the Magnificat (Lk 1: 39-56).
Today’s passage follows the visitation scene six months after Mary’s visit. Elizabeth has now given birth to a male child. A baby brings joy, not only to the immediate family, but to the whole neighborhood, and that is what happens in this case. The elders now gather to circumcise the child and to give him a name. Circumcision was the rite established by God under the Old Covenant to mark out those who belonged to his chosen people (Gen 17: 10-14).
John’s birth brings an immediate miracle in his family. His father, Zechariah, had doubted the Angel’s announcement that his wife was to bear a child, had been struck dumb for his unbelief; but as soon as he gives the right name the angel had given, he recovers his speech. The saintly bishop of Milan, Saint Ambrose, who converted Saint Augustine to the faith, says of this scene: “With good reason was his tongue loosed, because faith untied what had been tied by disbelief.”
St. John begins his life on earth by bringing much rejoicing into his family and into his neigbourhood. . To us, believers, John announces the coming of our salvation. He is the Precursor, who goes ahead of the Lord, preparing our hearts for his redemptive mission. He calls on you and me to make straight the way the Lord will pass through into our hearts.
As Christians, we too must be the forerunners of Christ in our world, especially in our country, Cameroon, that is facing such difficult times. Like John, Christians give testimony to the truth at all times and should not be overawed by those with power. Even though he receives constant threat from the Pharisees and the rulers of Israel, John remains steadfast in the truth. He tells Herod that it is not lawful for him to take his brother’s wife as his (Mk 6: 18). He pays for his audacity with his life, but he dies for the truth.
Even though we may not always have the courage to oppose the tyrant in our midst, let us pray for the courage of John the Baptist, who diminished that his Lord may increase in him. Lord, increase our faith in you. Amen.
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