The Catholic Church is celebrating the feast of the birth of Saint John the Baptist on 24 June. Five phrases that will help you better know the man about whom Jesus said: “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.”
1. “He will baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire”
John Bergsma, Bible expert and professor of Theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville (United States), reflected on the formative years of John the Baptist with the Essenes movement, which connected the Holy Spirit with water.
Bergsma, Doctor of Theology and specialist in the Old Testament affirms that John the Baptist went further and connected the Baptism of the Messiah not only with water and the Holy Spirit but also with the Holy Spirit and fire.
The birth of Saint John the Baptist is celebrated near the pinnacle of light in the northern hemisphere, on the summer solstice (which in the southern hemisphere corresponds to the winter solstice).
The liturgical calendar reveals something of the reality of John’s mission as the precursor of the Messiah, the incarnate Son of God who is “the light that shines in the darkness.”
After the summer solstice each year, the sunlight begins to decrease just as John decreases in anticipation of the coming of the Messiah, and reaches its lowest point before Christmas in the northern hemisphere, when “the Light of lights descends from the sky and the physical light itself begins to grow.”
2. “Repent because the Kingdom of God is near”
As a true mystic, the inner life of Saint John the Baptist and his supernatural vision of reality allowed him to guide others in the conviction that they must change their lives in order to see Heaven.
“Baptized by the Holy Spirit in his mother’s womb, John’s life was marked by the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven from his first days. His words really capture the reality of Jesus’ first words in the Gospel of Mark: ‘Repent, the Kingdom of God is at hand,’” says Bergsma.
3. “Breed of vipers! How can you think you will escape the wrath that is coming upon you?”
John the Baptist did not like hypocrisy, as evidenced by the words he chose to address the Pharisees and Sadducees.
However, he spoke kindly to tax collectors and prostitutes who repented. “His words are a not-so-kind reminder that the humble acknowledgement of our sins is more important than appearances,” says the Bible expert.
4. “Behold the Lamb of God!”
John the Baptist was one of the first to recognize the divinity of Jesus. He “Not only jumps into his mother’s womb but instructs his disciples Andrew and John to follow Jesus, calling him the Lamb of God.”
This, Bergsma recalls, is reflected in the words of the priest at each Mass. “This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
“May the words of John the Baptist light the fire in you on this holiday” and may you “see Heaven amid everyday life, live with integrity and contemplate the Lamb of God,” concludes the expert.