Wednesday – Nativity of St. John the Baptist

Gospel – Luke 1:57-66, 80

Diminishing Returns

Church of John the Baptist, Ein Karem, Israel

For anyone who may have missed it, this past Sunday, June 21, was the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.  Here in Tennessee, sunrise was at 6:19am, and sunset at 8:59pm; that’s over 14 hours and 36 minutes of sunlight.  And from that moment on, daylight slowly diminishes until we reach winter solstice, the shortest day of the year on Deeember 21, when we will have only 9 hours and 42 minutes of sunlight.  From that moment on, daylight will then increase!

So what??

We celebrate today the Birth of John the Baptist.  It is his mother Elizabeth who insists that he will be called John, not Zechariah like his father.  He will be called John even though no one else in the family has that name.  He will be unique.  He came to testify to the light, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.

Almost exactly 6 months from today, the Nativity of John the Baptist, we will celebrate Christmas, the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus!  Again, so what!!!

 I keep thinking of John’s words when he greets Jesus at the Jordan River - He must increase but I must decrease!!

Rather interesting, don’t you think.  Just as daily sunlight begins to decrease, we celebrate John’s Nativity.  And just as daily sunlight increases, we celebrate Jesus’ birth!  Perhaps it’s a good reminder to each of us that Jesus should be the focus of our prayers, our actions, and our life.  That our attention to the divine should increase and our focus on the human must diminish!