John the Baptist, Mary play special roles in church

For centuries, the church has celebrated the birth of John the Baptist on Sunday, almost 6 months before the birth of Jesus Christ on Dec. 25. He is the greatest prophet of the church and outranked only by the Blessed Mother, Mary.

Both of them have birthdays that are celebrated each year by the church to note their importance to the faith. This is because of Mary in her special role — by her “Yes” at the Annunciation to the Angel Gabriel to be the Mother of God — and John the Baptist as the herald and forerunner of Jesus Christ.

It was also John the Baptist who baptized Jesus, pointed him out as the Messiah and challenged some of his own disciples to go and follow Jesus. John was born to an older, sterile woman, Elizabeth, like many of the Old Testament important figures to show that salvation is all God’s work.

Our world is too selfsufficient to admit we need a savior, but perhaps the present situation in this world with so much violence, pain, disagreement and anger will move some to believe and act with God.

John was gifted, so that even in the womb of Elizabeth, he was preparing others to receive the coming of the lord. By virtue of our baptism, we have been called and challenged to share in word and deed in the living, acting on the message of Jesus, and being a light to the nations by our words and deeds. Most of the saints’ days are celebrated on the anniversary of their death and the end of their total life, dedication to the Lord. Mary and John get the special honor to challenge us to begin early in life, giving of time and talent of our unique gifts of the Holy Spirit to the Lord, in living an active Christian Life.

This is a day to give thanks for the gift of life given by the lord and parents to all children. It is normal for parents and relatives to wonder after the birth of a child, “What, then, will this child be?”

In John’s case, they knew that the hand of the lord was upon him for his mother’s age and his father being struck dumb in his work at the temple when told of this birth. It is not only his birth, but also his death as a martyr at the hands of a drunken Herod at his birthday party, forced to give in to his daughter’s request that is celebrated on Aug. 29. As the last Old Testament prophet and the first Christian martyr after the holy innocents, John deserves these honors. May we, in the coming week, be willing to say “yes” at least once each day to the lord and be a witness in one small deed done in faith.

We also pray for and honor the “yes” of Joshua Wilbur for becoming a priest at the imposition of hands by Archbishop Blair yesterday at our Cathedral in Hartford and his first Mass at St. Thomas in Goshen at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

The parish family of St. Louis is grateful for his work and life with us in these past years of his training. We trust that with the grace of God, he will be a fabulous priest in the example of John the Baptist.