Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
Who is a prophet? Whenever I hear the word “prophet” or “prophecy” I immediately think of someone predicting events that will happen in the future that no one else can predict. I know that is a commonly held definition, but I have also come to realize that living as a Christian, in the fullest sense, means living prophetically. When I was baptized into the Body of Christ, I was given the gift and responsibility of living as Christ did—priest, prophet and king. My life was no longer my own. Today, on this feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist, I am given the opportunity to assess—yet again—how I have fulfilled or fallen short of fulfilling my prophetic role as part of the Body of Christ.
Today’s passages from Isaiah and Psalms echo one another, not only in how they can be related to the call to service to God but in their pure tenderness as well. “The Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name” says Isaiah and “You formed my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb…my very self you knew” prays the Psalmist. Maybe what is most important here is to know that these scriptures relate not only to the God who brought the great prophet St John the Baptist into existence, but to each of us as well. It is difficult to imagine oneself in the company of John the Baptist but that is exactly who our God is.
The passage from Luke’s Gospel is placed between two of the most revered canticles in Scripture—Mary’s Magnificat and Zechariah’s Benedictus—both of which are sung throughout the world each day as part of the Church’s Liturgy of the Hours. The passage itself relates that all the neighbors and relatives of Zechariah and Elizabeth gathered for the circumcision ceremony were expecting the child to be named after his father. Zechariah, unable to speak since early in Elizabeth’s pregnancy, was given a tablet and wrote “John is his name”. Immediately filled with the Holy Spirit, Zechariah’s “tongue was freed” and he began praising God. Verse 65 says “Then fear came upon all their neighbors...” Surely there was something was special about this child: “What, then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.” (Lk 1:66) And Zechariah begins prophesying in his canticle about exactly what his blessed child will become and what his life as a prophet will foretell—the coming of the Messiah and the imminence of the Kingdom of God.
So how can I be prophetic? I cannot foretell future events. What I do know, by the grace of God, is how everything is going to end. And I believe that every time I share my unshakeable faith in the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God I am prophesying. I believe that each time I comfort someone mourning the loss of a loved one with words of hope and faith and charity I am prophesying. Whenever I express an opinion grounded in the truth that Christ is the beginning and the middle and the end of all creation I am living my role as a prophet. And when I am able to plant seeds of love in another human heart or stun another person with the fact that they are a beloved child of God desired into existence by a Creator who cherishes them, it is then, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that I am graced into my role as a prophet. More importantly, the way I live out my life will be the most poignant prophecy in my life as a member of the Body of Christ. I pray that God may grant me the grace to live this prophetic role more fully each day.
"O Holy Mysterious One, You have made me a member of the Body of Christ. Make it clear to me how I may live my life in a more deeply prophetic way. I beg you for this grace! With the intersession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen"
- Gail Lyman