John the Baptist

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son.  Luke 1:57

Today we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist which is the half way point to Christmas.  In his doubt of God's greatness, Zechariah was made deaf and mute for testing God in this announcement by the Angel Gabriel.  This lasted until he attested to the fact of the message from the Angel.  When Zechariah wrote on the tablet, 'John is his name' immediately his mouth was opened.  John which means 'graced by God', was sent as a light for the world to attest to the coming of the Savior.  

We all have some of Zechariah's doubt in our lives where we test God to ask him if this is truly the path he wants us to follow.   When our will crosses with the will of God it is then that God's will be done.  John the Baptist was sent to do God's will and as the forerunner for his kingdom.  John's statement still holds true in our lives today, 'we must decrease' - we need to rid ourselves of the vices, 'that he may increase' - when we rid ourselves of these vices we need to fill them with God.

There are only three birthdays that are celebrated in the liturgical year; Jesus, Mary and John.  With this we know he holds a significant part of where the start of Jesus's mininstry began.  John points the way our path should take to follow Jesus which includes repentance, to prepare yourself for the coming of God's kingdom.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

JOY

Image
The crowds were amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” But the Pharisees said, “He drives out demons by the prince of demons.”  Mathew 9:34 In the 'me culture' of today's society we fail to recognize Jesus.  There is so much ridicule that happens for one good thing that people fail to appreciate the good.  'If I appreciate that what will people say about me?'  Jesus did not care what people said, He continued on to complete his mission to the other towns and villages.  We live in a 'me culture' where we look at situations that happen around us and we ask what is in it for me, not what can I do to help.  We definitely do not live in a JOY filled world where Jesus is first, Others are second, and Yourself last.  Jesus did not let the doubt of the Pharisees dimish his message he was sent to bring.  He called for the master to send more laborers for the harvest.  There are people waiting to be invited, be strong in your faith.  The
Read more

My witness

Lets open with a prayer. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen. Lord Jesus, I believe in your presence in my life, family and those here today. I believe that you ask nothing of me that you do not give me the strength to do. I trust in the power of your grace and the care of your love. I love you, Lord, and I wish to love you with this prayer so that I may work according to your will and in your love. Amen Good Morning ~ Some of you may not know me, my name is Cory Sommer. I have been a member of St. Michael Catholic Church since 1999. When Pete asked if I was interested in giving my witness back in January, my immediate thought was am I ready, and after praying about it, I said yes but I still will probably read this word for word as that is where I am at right now. My second thought was, if I am ready, what are the daily readings for Mass for the day and what is God trying to teach me at this moment in my life. So if you know me you know that, and
Read more

You do not need to change I need to change...

Image
Instead of you posting garbage to try to change the world, why don't you pray to God to change you?  Ask him to start in your soul and then pray to him to change your heart.  Believe me when I tell you, you do not have the ability to change the world, but you do have the ability to change you. Oh God I adore you, I give myself to you, may I be the person you want me to be and may your will be done in my life today....
Read more