The Passion of St. John the Baptist (Memorial ~ 29 August)

In this memorial we recall the passion and martyrdom death of St. John the Baptist. He was Christ forerunner and the one who said he was only paving the the way for Christ by proclaiming the truth with great courage in calling people to a true change of heart, and to embrace the ways of God. The Gospel of Mark 6 is a sad and gruesome account of John the Baptist dead. Herod imprisoned John because he spoke out about Herod divorcing his wife, and unlawfully taking the wife of his brother. John was martyred by beheading and his head was placed on a platter and given to Herodias’s daughter in fulfilment to her request.

Besides our Lord Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptist is the only one whose birth and death is celebrated by the Catholic church. There is no doubt that blessed John suffered imprisonment and chains as a witness to our Redeemer, whose forerunner he was, and gave his life for Jesus Christ in fulfil the mission of being God's prophet.

O God, who willed that Saint John the Baptist should go ahead of your Son both in his birth and in his death, grant that, as he died a Martyr for truth and justice, we, too, may fight hard for the confession of what you teach. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Blessed are you who fear the LORD,

who walk in his ways!

For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;

blessed shall you be, and favoured.

Thursday, 29 August, 2013
The Passion of St. John the Baptist (Memorial)

Reading

Jeremiah 1: 17 - 19
17	But you, gird up your loins; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them.
18	And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and the people of the land.
19	They will fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the LORD, to deliver you."

Psalm

Psalms 71: 1 - 6, 15, 17
1	In thee, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame!
2	In thy righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline thy ear to me, and save me!
3	Be thou to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for thou art my rock and my fortress.
4	Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
5	For thou, O Lord, art my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth.
6	Upon thee I have leaned from my birth; thou art he who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of thee.
15	My mouth will tell of thy righteous acts, of thy deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge.
17	O God, from my youth thou hast taught me, and I still proclaim thy wondrous deeds.

Gospel

Mark 6: 17 - 29
17	For Herod had sent and seized John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Hero'di-as, his brother Philip's wife; because he had married her.
18	For John said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."
19	And Hero'di-as had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not,
20	for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he was much perplexed; and yet he heard him gladly.
21	But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and the leading men of Galilee.
22	For when Hero'di-as' daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will grant it."
23	And he vowed to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom."
24	And she went out, and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the baptizer."
25	And she came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter."
26	And the king was exceedingly sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her.
27	And immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard and gave orders to bring his head. He went and beheaded him in the prison,
28	and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.
29	When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist (Solemnity)

Luke 1:76-77

76 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;

For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,

77 To give knowledge of salvation to His people

By the remission of their sins,

In this solemnity we celebrate the miraculous birth of John the Baptist, a prophet who foretold and prepared a the way for the coming of the Messiah in the person of Jesus, whom he later baptised. John was cleansed of original sin in the womb of his mother, Elizabeth. God has brought John, the greatest of prophets, to prepare the way of Jesus the Messiah. His call to repentance and baptism formed a faithful remnant that awaited the coming of the Messiah. His Baptism, he said, was for repentance. But One would come who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. John is not worthy even to carry his sandals. His attitude toward Jesus was: “He must increase; I must decrease” John was humbled to find among the crowd of sinners who came to be baptized the one whom he already knew to be the Messiah. In Luke 7:28, "I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”, where Jesus declares John the greatest of all those who had preceded him.

The Nativity of St John the Baptist on 24 June comes three months after the celebration on 25 March of the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel told Our Lady that her cousin Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy.

Luke 1:5-25

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favour and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

Grant, we pray, almighty God, that your family may walk in the way of salvation and, attentive to what Saint John the Precursor urged, may come safely to the One he foretold, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. AMEN.

Monday, June 24, 2013
The Nativity of St. John the Baptist (Solemnity)

Reading 1

Isaiah 49: 1 - 6
1	Listen to me, O coastlands, and hearken, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.
2	He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away.
3	And he said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified."
4	But I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God."
5	And now the LORD says, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength --
6	he says: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

Psalm

Psalms 139: 1 - 3, 13 - 15
1	O LORD, thou hast searched me and known me!
2	Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up; thou discernest my thoughts from afar.
3	Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
13	For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together in my mother's womb.
14	I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful. Wonderful are thy works! Thou knowest me right well;
15	my frame was not hidden from thee, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.

Reading 2

Acts 13: 22 - 26
22	And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king; of whom he testified and said, `I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.'
23	Of this man's posterity God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.
24	Before his coming John had preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
25	And as John was finishing his course, he said, `What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.'
26	"Brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you that fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.

Gospel

Luke 1: 57 - 66, 80
57	Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son.
58	And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.
59	And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechari'ah after his father,
60	but his mother said, "Not so; he shall be called John."
61	And they said to her, "None of your kindred is called by this name."
62	And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called.
63	And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they all marveled.
64	And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.
65	And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea;
66	and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him.
80	And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel.