Change is in the air

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today celebrate the birth of St. John the Baptist. This figure, the cousin of Jesus, has the role of the Last Prophet of the Hebrew Testament and the First Prophet of the Christian Testament. In Canada, the feast of the birth of Sainte Jean Baptiste, is recored as being celebrated by Jesuits as early as 1636. It is the summer celebration of change in nature as the solstice has passed and the seasons will continue to produce transition from seed to crop to harvest. The adoption of the day as the Fete Nationale du Quebec in the early 19th century represents a response to celebrate and maintain francophone culture in North America. The Prophet Isaiah proclaims the mission of the "Suffering Servant" to bring the light of relationship with God to all people, "to the end of the earth" (Isaiah 49:6). Jesus will take on the mission of the Suffering Servant in His public ministry. The role of John is to prepare the way for the Light by proclaiming the imminent action of God to forgive and reconcile all people. John attracts attention. John is born in a miraculous manner to aged parents and is named according to Friar Jude Winkler as "Yahweh is merciful". Transition and change brings fear. The Gospel of Luke reports that the events of the birth of John create fear in the neighbours. Luke tells us that John goes to the wilderness from an early age until he appears publicly in Israel to baptize Jesus at the beginning of His public mission. Scholars have associated John with Essenes communities like the one from which the Dead Sea scrolls, featuring the Book of Isaiah, were recovered in the arid land south and east of Jerusalem. Father Larry Gillick SJ also ties John the Baptist to change. The interruption of the pattern by John is invitation. The nature of the renewed relationship with God through Jesus is "gift". We are suspicious sometimes of "gift". Am I worthy?This is not for me? What obligation do I incur by accepting such gift? What is my "gift" in return? We need to heed the advice of the angel to the Zachariah, holy man and faithful servant, to be aware that our prayer is answered and that it does come as gift that changes everything. We need the grace that restores the peace which is disrupted even by the miraculous gift.