Welcome to St. James

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint
John the Baptist. In Christian tradition he is also known as
“John the Forerunner.” John’s birthday on June 24th is one of
only three birthday’s celebrated in the liturgical calendar. The
other two are the Birth of Mary on September 8th and the Nativity
of our Lord on December 25th.

The church uses the solar calendar to represent the mystery of
the relationship between the sons of Mary and Elizabeth, John
and Jesus. John’s birthday is placed on the longest day of the
year, because in John 3:30 he said of Jesus, “He must increase;
I must decrease.” Every day after the summer solstice becomes
shorter and shorter, the light decreases, until the winter solstice
which is the shortest day of the year. Six months later Jesus’
birth is celebrated because from that day on, the light increases
again each day. This gives a physical connection to Jesus proclaiming
in John 8:12 “I am the light of the world.”

The Canticle of Zechariah found in Luke 1:67-79, a song attributed
to John’s father, is prayed every morning prayer in the
Church’s Liturgy of the Hours. Here are the last three verses:
“And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for
you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his
people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their
sins, because of the tender mercy of our God by which the daybreak
from on high will visit us to shine on those who sit in
darkness and death’s shadow, to guide our feet into the path of
peace.” You might consider praying the Canticle of Zechariah
every morning and the Canticle of Mary (Luke 1:46-55) every
evening.

I am Joseph your brother. Fr. Joe Hannappel