Baptismal mission

The Roman Catholic Lectionary presents texts today to celebrate the Nativity of St John the Baptist. This occasion offers the opportunity to recall the threefold mission of those baptized as Christians. We are anointed as priest, prophet and king. The text from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah is described by Friar Jude Winkler as belonging to the section of that Book which tells of the Suffering Servant of God to whom Jesus draws comparisons to Himself in the Gospel. This suffering servant is called from the womb to fulfill his mission to bring light of the experience of relationship with God to the people of Israel and the people of the world. This commission is in our Baptismal anointing as servant king and prophet. The sharp sword of our mouth and the polished arrow of our strength from God make up our nature as the psalmist celebrates our formation by God in the womb. Like the son of Zachariah, who is named John, in the passage from the Gospel of Luke we have a unique name given by God in the spirit of which we are called to live out our mission in life. The text from the Book of Acts is a declaration of the discernment of John the Baptist that he is not the Messiah for Israel. He is the one to announce the coming of Jesus. Friar Jude notes that the path followed by John in response to the direction of God may have taken him to the Essenescommunity of Qumran, They were a separatist Jewish sect of the Second Temple Period, a portion of whom had formed an ascetic monastic community in Qumran. Our discernment of our name and mission requires openness to the direction of the Holy Spirit, through piety and prayer of our Baptismal priesthood, to lead us through our preparation and performance of the mission written in our being by God.