The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist, 24 June 2024
Isaiah 49:1-6 ><}}}}*> Acts 13:22-26 ><}}}}*> Luke 1:57-66.80
Praise and glory to You,
God our loving Father
in sending us John the Baptist
as Precursor of your Son
Jesus Christ our Savior;
on this Solemnity of his birth
six months before Christmas
during the summer solstice to
remind us of John's vocation,
"a burning and shining lamp"
(John 5:35) set to decrease
when the Light that illuminates
the world appeared in December,
the winter solstice.
Everything about John pointed
to the unexpected - his conception
in the womb of his old, barren mother
Elizabeth, his being named not after
his father Zechariah, and his life being
spent in the wilderness, not in the
temple to follow the footsteps of
his father; most of all, his "manifestation
to Israel" (Lk.1:80) was not about himself
but pointed to the Christ, Jesus our Lord
and Savior.
What is not unexpected, dear Father,
is the connection between John and
Jesus and the salvific events that have
everyone filled with joy and fear at the
same time for "surely your hand hand
was with him" (Lk.1:66).
Open our eyes and our hearts,
merciful Father, to always expect
the unexpected in this life and mission,
to learn to withdraw in the wilderness
of our lives like John
to realize that our whole being
like his is directed to our relationship
with Jesus the Christ.
Let us decrease so that Jesus may increase! Let us strive to go to the wilderness to empty ourselves to be filled by the Holy Spirit; most of all, let your words comfort us when life becomes so difficult in being a herald of Jesus by proclaiming repentance and conversion (Acts 13:24):
“You are my servant, he said to me, Israel, through whom I show my glory. Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the Lord, my recompense is with my God” (Isaiah 49:3,4).
How wonderful
that when I learn to expect
the unexpected from You,
O God,
that is when I am less,
Jesus becomes more in me,
then truly,
You are most gracious,
Father through me,
like John.
Amen.
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