Friday 24 June

the Birth of John the Baptist

Isaiah 49:1-6; Ps. 139; Acts 13:22-36;
Luke 1:57-66, 80

Called to witness

At his birth, the people wondered what John would turn out to be. He turned out to be the mouthpiece of God to proclaim God’s appearing in the flesh. That mouthpiece was, indeed, a sharp sword and a sharpened arrow to strike at the heart of God’s people. At the end of his life John may have thought, ‘I have toiled in vain; exhausted for nothing.’ But what matters is that he remained faithful to his calling from his mother’s womb. And, so, like John we too are called to stay true to our witness of Christ.