Birth Of St. John The Baptist

June 24, 2021, Thursday
(SOLEMNITY OF THE NATIVITY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST) - Mass During the Day (White)
CYCLE B - YEAR I
Lectionary: 587

Reading I
Is 49:1-6

Hear me, O coastlands,
    listen, O distant peoples.
The LORD called me from birth,
    from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword
    and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.
He made me a polished arrow,
    in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me,
    Israel, through whom I show my glory.
Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
    and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
yet my reward is with the LORD,
    my recompense is with my God.
For now the LORD has spoken
    who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
    and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
    and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
    to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
    and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
    that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Responsorial Psalm
139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15

R.    (14)  I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.

O LORD, you have probed me, you know me:
    you know when I sit and when I stand;
    you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
    with all my ways you are familiar.

R.    I praise you for I am wonderfully made.

Truly you have formed my inmost being;
    you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
    wonderful are your works.

R.    I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.

My soul also you knew full well;
    nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
    when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.

R.    I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.

Reading II
Acts 13:22-26

In those days, Paul said:
“God raised up David as king; 
of him God testified,
    I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart;
    he will carry out my every wish.
From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise,
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.
John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance
to all the people of Israel;
and as John was completing his course, he would say,
‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he.
Behold, one is coming after me;
I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’
“My brothers, sons of the family of Abraham,
and those others among you who are God-fearing,
to us this word of salvation has been sent.”

Alleluia
See Lk 1:76

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GOSPEL
Lk 1:57-66, 80

When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 

Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, 

and they shared her joy.
On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, 

and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 

but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”
They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”
Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 

He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. 

All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, 

“What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.
And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

REFLECTION:

Today we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist, a rare distinction he shares with Jesus and Our Lady. Like many Old Testament figures who played an important role in the history of our salvation, John is born to a sterile woman, in her old age. Our salvation is all God's work. Our world is too self-sufficient to admit we need a savior, but the present situation, with so much violence and pain in relationships, may perhaps move more of us to ask God to save us. Although he does not save us without our collaboration, it is his will that the world is saved, have a happy ending.

PRAYER:

And indeed the hand of the Lord was with me too. Thank you, Lord, for my name, and for the dreams that people invested in me.