The Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist is one of three celebrations in the Church calendar specifically of someone's birth. The other two are those of Jesus (Christmas) and the Virgin Mary September 8 — nine months after the Immaculate Conception. The date is six months before Christmas based on what Luke says — that the annunciation to Mary occurred in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy with John. So John was conceived six months before Jesus and born six months before Jesus.
The Feast has two separate Mass formularies: one for the Vigil and one for the day itself. The readings for both emphasize John's vocation, given to him from the beginning of his existence in his mother's womb. It is a vocation of preparing the people for Jesus.
Vigil Mass.
The first reading is from Jeremiah —Jer 1:4-10. It is an account of the prophet receiving his call from the Lord. The Lord has chosen him for his prophetic ministry before he was even born. It is a duty which he should not try to refuse on the basis of a perceived inadequacy, such as you or lack of ability as a speaker. He is to do what the Lord tells him and give the Lord's word to his people. The Lord will give him the ability to fulfill his mission.
The Church sees Jeremiah as a type of John the Baptist. We shall see in the gospel that God also selected him even before he was conceived. Jeremiah's fidelity to his mission brought him persecution, and there is a tradition that he was a refugee to Egypt with other Israelites when the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, and in Egypt he was killed by his fellow exiles. John, for his part, was killed for his fidelity to his mission.
The responsorial psalm — Ps 71:5-8, 15, 17 — gives a chance to reflect on God's lifelong call. We can apply it to ourselves: God has a vocation for each of us.
The second reading — 1 Peter 1:8-12 — speaks of our faith in Jesus. The prophets had looked forward to his coming and their testimony confirms our faith. John was the last of the prophets, and the only one to actually see him in person. It is traditional to speak of him as standing on the threshold between the Old Testament and the New.
The gospel pericope — Luke 1:5-17 — gives us Luke's account of the annunciation of John's birth to Zechariah. As with Jesus, the birth is miraculous. As with Jeremiah, the prophetic vocation is his from the beginning of his existence. The mission is to prepare the people of Israel to receive the Messiah. Luke alludes to the belief at the time of Jesus, that Elijah would return to inaugurate the Messianic Age, and he quotes the description of Elijah's role given by Malachi — Mal 3:23-24. (In Matthew 17:10-17, Jesus says that John fulfills the prophesy of Elijah's return.)
Mass for the Day.
Again in the Mass for the day we hear of the call of a prophet in the first reading, and part of Luke's account of John's birth is the gospel reading. The second reading tells us some of what St. Paul said about John.
In one of the "Suffering Servant Songs" —Isaiah 49:1-6 — the prophet recounts his vocation, given before his birth. He is the chosen instrument of the Lord. Although it seems to him that his efforts have been fruitless, God is pleased and assures him that he is not just bringing restoration to the tribes of Israel: he is also a light to the Gentiles so that salvation may come to all nations.
This passage is read during Holy Week and then it is applied to Jesus himself. Here we say that it also illustrates the significance of John, who surely had his moments of discouragement, especially when he was imprisoned and felt the need to send disciples to ask Jesus if he really was the Messiah as John had thought. But ultimately, his work bore fruit in the acceptance which Jesus found.
The responsorial psalm — Ps 139:1-3, 13-16 — invites us to reflect that God knows us as much as he knew Isaiah and John the Baptist.
In the Acts of the Apostles, we read of Paul encountering people who had received the baptism of John.Clearly his fame extended beyond the land of Israel into the Jewish diaspora. It also seems that not all of his followers were willing to believe in Jesus as Messiah. Thus Paul, in the second reading — Acts 13:16, 22-26 — is able to speak to people of John, as someone they know of. John prepared the people for Jesus, calling them to repentance.
The gospel passage — Luke 1:57-66, 80 — picks up the story of John which was begun in the reading at the vigil Mass. Both Elizabeth and Zechariah insist that he is to be called John, contrary to the custom of the time which called for children to be given the name of a member of the extended family. The name means "God has shown favor/ been gracious/ remembered." It recalls Zechariah's words, in his canticle, "[The Lord is] mindful of his holy covenant." (Lk 1:72)
The passage tells of the awe the people feel at this miraculous birth, and concludes by looking forward to his career of preaching and baptizing in the wilderness.
We should consider ourselves to have a call to point to Jesus, as John did.
The notes of the musical scale take their names from the first stanza of a hymn for vespers of this solemnity, as explained here. Here's a nice performance of the full hymn, and here's the text with a verse translation.
In Japan the week from April 29 to May 5 is called "Golden Week," because it contains four holidays. The week which includes June 24 and 29 is similar in terms of Church feasts, since the former is the solemnity of St. John and the latter the solemnity of St. Peter and Paul. When Pentecost is late, some other big feasts can occur within the week. For example, in 2014, Sunday June 22 was Corpus Christi; Tuesday the 24th, St John; Friday the 27th, Sacred Heart; and Sunday the 29th, Sts. Peter and Paul — four big feasts in eight days.
Tanglewood — 2026/08/01-02
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