There's a special feast day being celebrated today.
For Canadians who are resident in Quebec, and for French Canadians across the land, today is la Saint-Jean, a holiday in the province of Quebec and an occasion for celebrating la francophonie. The roots of this feast though are found in the liturgical feast proper for this day.
The Church celebrates today the Birth of Saint John the Baptist. According to a sermon by Saint Augustine of Hippo, the Church observes the birth of John the Baptist as a hallowed event. We have no such commemoration for any other saint but it is significant that we celebrate the birthdays of John and Jesus.
John was born of a woman too old for childbirth; Christ was born of a youthful virgin. The news of John's birth was met with incredulity and his father was struck dumb. Christ's birth was believed, and he was conceived through faith.
John appears as the boundary between the two testaments, the old and the new. That he is a sort of boundary the Lord himself bears witness, when he speaks of the law and the prophets up until John the Baptist. Thus he represents times past and is the herald of the new era to come. As a representative of the past, he is born of aged parents; as a herald of the new era, he is declared to be a prophet while still in his mother's womb. For when yet unborn, he leapt in his mother's womb at the arrival of blessed Mary. In that womb he had already been designated a prophet, even before he was born; it was revealed that he was to be Christ's precursor, before they ever saw one another. These are divine happenings going beyond the limits of our human frailty. Eventually he is born, he receives his name, his father's tongue is loosened.
Zechariah is silent and loses his voice until John, the precursor of the Lord, is born and restores his voice. The silence of Zechariah is nothing but the age of prophecy lying hidden, obscured, as it were, and concealed before the preaching of Christ. At John's arrival Zechariah's voice is released, and it becomes clear at the coming of the one who is foretold. The release of Zechariah's tongue at the birth of John is a parallel to the rending of the veil at Christ's crucifixion. If John were announcing his own coming, Zechariah's lips would not have been opened. The tongue is loosened because a voice is born.
For Canadians who are resident in Quebec, and for French Canadians across the land, today is la Saint-Jean, a holiday in the province of Quebec and an occasion for celebrating la francophonie. The roots of this feast though are found in the liturgical feast proper for this day.
The Church celebrates today the Birth of Saint John the Baptist. According to a sermon by Saint Augustine of Hippo, the Church observes the birth of John the Baptist as a hallowed event. We have no such commemoration for any other saint but it is significant that we celebrate the birthdays of John and Jesus.
John was born of a woman too old for childbirth; Christ was born of a youthful virgin. The news of John's birth was met with incredulity and his father was struck dumb. Christ's birth was believed, and he was conceived through faith.
John appears as the boundary between the two testaments, the old and the new. That he is a sort of boundary the Lord himself bears witness, when he speaks of the law and the prophets up until John the Baptist. Thus he represents times past and is the herald of the new era to come. As a representative of the past, he is born of aged parents; as a herald of the new era, he is declared to be a prophet while still in his mother's womb. For when yet unborn, he leapt in his mother's womb at the arrival of blessed Mary. In that womb he had already been designated a prophet, even before he was born; it was revealed that he was to be Christ's precursor, before they ever saw one another. These are divine happenings going beyond the limits of our human frailty. Eventually he is born, he receives his name, his father's tongue is loosened.
Zechariah is silent and loses his voice until John, the precursor of the Lord, is born and restores his voice. The silence of Zechariah is nothing but the age of prophecy lying hidden, obscured, as it were, and concealed before the preaching of Christ. At John's arrival Zechariah's voice is released, and it becomes clear at the coming of the one who is foretold. The release of Zechariah's tongue at the birth of John is a parallel to the rending of the veil at Christ's crucifixion. If John were announcing his own coming, Zechariah's lips would not have been opened. The tongue is loosened because a voice is born.
1 comment:
WOW!!! New enlightenment for me. Thanks.
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