When the time
arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors
and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and
they rejoiced with her. When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the
child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother
said in reply, “No. He will be called John.” But they answered her, “There is
no one among your relatives who has this name.” So they made signs, asking his
father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John
is his name,” and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue
freed, and he spoke blessing God. Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and
all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who
heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child
be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. The child grew and became strong in spirit,
and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.[1]
On 24 June, the Catholic Church
celebrates the birth of St. John the Baptist.
Perhaps, others may have a similar thought that occurred to me: How is
this a continual impact upon me since I already know about John the
Baptist? With the aid of the Church
fathers, I want to touch upon this.
The above-mentioned passage is from
the New American Bible. I want to
utilize the Douay-Rheims version because of the word “full,” which it
utilizes. Now Elizabeth’s full time of being delivered was come: and she brought
forth a son.[2] I had always been taught that a pregnancy was
full term at nine months, but my daughter told me, no, that it was actually ten
months. That is fitting because, in
Scripture, “ten” means fullness, completeness.
St. Ambrose tells us: “If you carefully observe, you will find that the
word signifying fullness is nowhere used except at the birth of the righteous. Hence it is said, ‘Now Elisabeth’s full time
came.’ For the life of the righteous has
fullness, but the days of the wicked are empty.”[3] Of what relevance is that to us? We are born again in Baptism; and, when our
days in this lifetime are full—if we cooperate with the grace of God and grow
in Christ—we will bear fruit: We will be the image of our Lord. Not only that: Because we are progressing
towards “full term,” we are bearing fruit in this lifetime.
Now, fruit is evidence of the fact
that we are growing in Christ. For that
reason, many of us look for fruit in ourselves, becoming “fruit watchers.” Often, we are discouraged because we see more
bad things than good—unless we become presumptuous. For this reason, it is comforting that the
Church has included a passage from the prophet, Isaiah: 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.”[4] This encourages us that, if we cooperate with
the grace of God, and persevere, enduring to the end, we will come to “full
term.” We don’t have to see the fruit in
ourselves, we just have to let Christ produce the fruit in us. Others will see the fruit. We may not see our lives affecting people,
leading them to Christ, but God will ensure it occurs. St. Stephen, perhaps, did not see fruit in
his life, but because of his life and prayers—especially his final prayer—he is
still bearing much fruit as a result of the conversion of St. Paul. It is when the seed dies that the wheat will
grow. We just need to keep “pointing”
our minds to Christ, praying that he conforms us to his image.
Origen explains: “Zacharias is by
interpretation ‘remembering God,’ but John signifies ‘pointing to.’ Now ‘memory’ relates to something absent; ‘pointing
to,’ to something present. But John was
not about to set forth the memory of God as absent, but with his finger to
point him out as present, saying, Behold the Lamb of God.”[5] We are like Zacharias, in his name, when we
remember God. Remembering God reminds us
that we are not yet seeing him face-to-face, that we are a work in
progress. John’s name reminds us to keep
our minds upon Christ, living as he lived.
St. John Chrysostom tells us that that “John” can also be interpreted “the
grace of God.” This reminds us that God
is continually giving us the grace to be transformed into the image of his Son;
we just need to “exercise” that grace.
St. Ambrose exhorts us: “Rightly
also, from that moment was his (Zachariah’s) tongue loosed for that which
unbelief had bound, faith set free. Let
us then also believe, in order that our tongue, which has been bound by the
chains of unbelief, may be loosed by the voice of reason. Let us write mysteries by the Spirit if we
wish to speak. Let us write the
forerunner of Christ, not on tables of stone, but on the fleshly tablets of the
heart. For he who names John, prophesies
Christ. For it follows, ‘And he spoke,
giving thanks’.”[6]
John the Baptist was circumcised on
the eighth day. “Eight” signifies new
life, new creation—which we attained at Baptism. Were we given new life in order that we may
live as others do, or were we given new life in order that we could live as our
Father lives and teaches? May the birth
of John the Baptism remind us who and what we are, causing us to progress to “full
term.” May we be as the Baptist was: The child grew and became strong in spirit,
and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel[7]--in
our case, when we come to the judgment seat of Christ, the true Israel.
[1] New American Bible,
Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, 2011), Lk 1:57–66, 80.
[2] The Holy Bible,
Translated from the Latin Vulgate, (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible
Software, 2009), Lk 1:57.
[3] Aquinas, St. Thomas. Catena Aurea - Gospel of St.
Luke - EasyRead Version (Kindle Locations 767-769). Kindle Edition
[4]
Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain), The Holy Bible:
Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, (New York: National
Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, 1994), Is 49:4.
[5] Aquinas, St. Thomas. Catena Aurea - Gospel of St.
Luke - EasyRead Version (Kindle Locations 800-803). Kindle Edition
[6] Aquinas,
St. Thomas. Catena Aurea - Gospel of St. Luke - EasyRead Version (Kindle
Locations 809-812). Kindle Edition.
[7] New American Bible,
Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, 2011), Lk 1:80.
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