| Readings for June 24, 2012
As a mother of boys, I like to think that children show at an early age what they might be when they grow up. I like to imagine the two-year-old John the Baptist, playing at his mother's feet as Elizabeth goes about her tasks. Suddenly, John goes missing. Elizabeth cries out for Zechariah, "John is missing!" Zechariah says, "I'll go look for him."
Shortly, Zechariah returns, holding John at an arm's length. John is covered with sticky honey and sand. "Where did you find him?" asks Elizabeth. "Oh, he was out in the desert eating grasshoppers again!"
John the Baptist, Prophet of the Lord, lived in the desert, eating wild honey and locusts. He preached a baptism of repentance and proclaimed the coming of the Lord. He was the first to do so, leaping in his mother's womb when she was visited by Mary, pregnant with the Messiah.
Elizabeth, also a prophet, exclaimed that the infant in her womb leapt for joy when the greeting of Mary reached her ears. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Zechariah, too, was a prophet, proclaiming that, "You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins."
John followed his calling by the Holy Spirit from before he was born! A miracle of God; for his parents were beyond the age of childbearing, he amazed everyone with his knowledge of God and with his eloquent preaching. He won many over to repentance, preparing the way for Christ the Lord, whom he also baptized to begin his mission of salvation. John began his life as a miracle, and ended as a martyr. He was truly a great prophet.
Each of us was created by God for some purpose which only we can do. Pray that we, too, may be filled with the Holy Spirit, and fulfill the role of preparing for the coming of the Lord in glory.
Kathleen Spears Hopkins
Kathleen holds a Master of Theological Studies degree from the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago, and a BA in English from the Catholic University of America. She is a member of the Ascension Choir. She has a wacky sense of humor.
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