Birth of John

This week, the Church celebrates the solemnity of the birth of St. John the Baptist. This may seem a little odd to those who follow the feasts of saints. Typically, a saint’s feast day is the day that they died, and yet here we have the celebration of John the Baptist’s birth. This is something that we really only do for Mary and Jesus. So what makes John so special?

St. John the Baptist, in addition to being Jesus’ cousin, is also held to be the final of the Old Testament prophets. His message of repentance, carried out through a preparatory baptism of repentance, are seen as the final stage of God’s message through the old prophets. God has given the Law, He has sent the various prophets to call the people back to fidelity to the covenant and to point to the coming Messiah, and now John has made the final preparations for the Messiah to finally come. John is announcing the fulfillment of all that was promised in the prophets before him. 

John also is held as the greatest of all the prophets. This too may seem a little odd: John did not part the sea, John did not call fire from the sky, how can he be greater than Moses or Elijah? John is the greatest of all the prophets in the witness he gives to the Christ. He is the Forerunner, the one who announces the coming of the Christ, and he does this by his words and also his actions. John’s martyrdom is a means of not only prophesying the coming of Christ but also the nature of His mission: the Cross. 

This is why we celebrate both his birth and his death. John’s whole life is a proclamation of Jesus: both His coming into the world and His death on the Cross. As we celebrate St. John’s birth, may we see in him a full reflection of the life of Jesus, and thus be inspired to reflect Jesus in our own lives in the same way.