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| St. John the Baptist by El Greco |
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist. According to St. Augustine, John the Baptist is the only saint whose birthday is celebrated by the Church (Sermon 293, 1). The Church selected June 24th as his birthday celebration because scripture accounts that John was six month older than his cousin, Jesus. St. John was born to Elizabeth and Zechariah who, like Abram and Sarah, were up in their years when he was conceived and born. John is significant in salvation history because he is the last of the Old Testament prophets; he is the "dividing line" between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Catholic Haiku
Today is one of the theme days for the WordCount Blogathon. Today we were asked to write a haiku poem. Here is my haiku on St. John the Baptist as inspired by the three readings from today's lectionary:
God called me from birth.
Servant of the Lord, am I.
LORD, you are my strength.
I prepared Thy way
Preaching, “Repent, be baptized
For He is coming.”
Mother named me John
Hand of the Lord upon me
And with His Spirit
He Must Increase
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