Yesterday was the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist. The Church Christianized the summer solstice as it did the winter solstice. Six months from today is Christmas. The feast of John the Baptist is the forerunner of that of Christ’s birth. John was the great light who now begins to diminish as the days begin to grow shorter. Did he not say, “I must decrease? He must increase.” St. John’s feast anticipates the greatest blaze of light that is Christmas.
John’s light prepared the Way for the Light of Christ. God’s life shone so brightly in John that he was a light to the world. The people in Ireland have a great tradition on what they call St. John’s Night, the vigil of the Nativity of John the Baptist. As the days grow shorter, they light great bonfires, representing, the light that John was. He called people to repent of sin and convert to virtue. He pointed out a path to Christ, to prepare for his coming. He threw light on the path forward.
John was a challenge to the world of his time — and he is to ours, as to what we find important in life. He is a challenge because, like John, we too are called from the womb. Like John, we can be filled with God if we turn away from what distracts us from God, from what the world tells us is important and choose what God wants for us. The point is: God wants each person to be happy in a life with him, but the particular way that this is expressed is different for each person: “butchers, bakers and candle stick makers.”
We learn from John the Baptist that we can point others to God in a way that only we can do in our particular state of life. The name John means “God is gracious.” If we are following our unique call, God will be gracious to us as well. John the Baptist stands as a sign of the unique vocation that each of has before God. Each of us is called from the womb. Each of us is called by baptism. God calls us to be, like John the Baptist, an irrepeatable sign of Christ for others, so that others may see Christ in us and want to have what we have.
The Church sets John the Baptist before us as a reminder that we are a people called to walk in the light of Christ and reflect that light to others. We can point the way to Christ, as John did. John’s uniqueness was that he was the baptizer. That has almost become his last name. The point is that no matter what we do, we must take our baptismal responsibilities seriously, and God will help us because, as John’s name reminds us, “God is gracious.”