Is
49:1-6; Acts 13:22-26; Lk 1:57-66, 80
For
the Hebrews, the name of a person is important because it says
something about the person, his life and his family. Sometimes, the
name of the person tells us the circumstance attending his birth, as
in the case of Esau and Jacob. Rebekah, the wife of Isaac, gave birth
to twins. The first to be born was red and his whole body was hairy,
so they called him Esau, which means “full of hairs”. The second
child was found gripping Esau’s heel, so he was named Jacob, which
in Hebrew is ya’ăqōb (´āqēb
means heel).
Commonly,
the Hebrew child receives the name of his parents because he will
perpetuate the name of the family. When Elizabeth gave birth to a
child, the neighbors and relatives wanted to name the child after his
father Zechariah. But Elizabeth insisted that the boy be named
‘John.’ In Hebrew the name John is Jehohanan,
which means ‘God is gracious.’ It was the
name that God wished to be given to the child because it described
the joy and gratitude of Zechariah and Elizabeth for the child given
to them in their old age.
The
birth of John is celebrated by the Church as a solemnity. Aside from
his, only two other births are given the same honor, that of Jesus
and of Mary. This merely shows the special place of John in the life
of the Church. St. Augustine said: “The birth of John is a hallowed
event. John appears as the boundary between the Two Testaments, the
Old and the New . . . Thus he represents times past and is the herald
of the new era to come.” The gospel of Mark shows John standing
right from the beginning in the light of God’s plan of salvation.
He was the person sent by God to lay straight the way of the Lord, to
prepare the way of Jesus Christ (Mk. 1:1-5).
Among
the many great things said about John, the one thing that awes and
challenges people is his humility. John accepted his role as a
herald of someone else. He has already attracted a good number of
followers but he never sought the limelight. He could have taken all
the attention, but he kept pointing people towards the One to come.
And when the right moment came, he gladly yielded to Jesus in order
to make true his words: “He must increase and I must decrease”.
The date of John’s birth is near the summer solstice. St. Augustine
said that this is very symbolic because after John’s birth,
daylight begins to grow shorter, whereas after Jesus’ birth, it
begins to increase.
John
serves as a reminder for all of us of our calling to bring people to
the light of Jesus our Lord. Today, we have famous people in
politics, in sports, in music, in films and theaters – but
unfortunately, many of them direct people toward other values.
May
St. John inspire us not to seek our own glory but to direct others to
Jesus and to the values of the Kingdom!
