24 June 2025 (Tuesday) / The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist ‐ Solemnity

24 June 2025 (Tuesday)

The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist ‐ Solemnity.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading: Isaiah 49: 1-6

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 139: 1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15

Second Reading: Acts 13: 22-26

Alleluia: Luke 1: 76

Gospel: Luke 1: 57-66, 80

First Reading : Isaiah 49:1‐6

Islands, listen to me, pay attention, remotest peoples. The Lord called me before I was born, from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name. He made my mouth a sharp sword, and hid me in the shadow of his hand. He made me into a sharpened arrow, and concealed me in his quiver. He said to me, ‘You are my servant (Israel) in whom I shall be glorified’; while I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in vain, I have exhausted myself for nothing’; and all the while my cause was with the Lord, my reward with my God. I was honoured in the eyes of the Lord, my God was my strength. And now the Lord has spoken, he who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, to gather Israel to him: ‘It is not enough for you to be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel; I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’

Responsive Psalm : Psalm 138(139):1‐3,13‐15

I thank you for the wonder of my being.

O Lord, you search me and you know me, you know my resting and my rising, you discern my purpose from afar. You mark when I walk or lie down, all my ways lie open to you.

I thank you for the wonder of my being.

For it was you who created my being, knit me together in my mother’s womb. I thank you for the wonder of my being, for the wonders of all your creation.

I thank you for the wonder of my being.

Already you knew my soul, my body held no secret from you when I was being fashioned in secret and moulded in the depths of the earth.

I thank you for the wonder of my being.

Second Reading : Acts 13:22‐26

Paul said: ‘God deposed Saul and made David their king, of whom he approved in these words, “I have selected David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will carry out my whole purpose.” To keep his promise, God has raised up for Israel one of David’s descendants, Jesus, as Saviour, whose coming was heralded by John when he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the whole people of Israel. Before John ended his career he said, “I am not the one you imagine me to be; that one is coming after me and I am not fit to undo his sandal.” ‘My brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and all you who fear God, this message of salvation is meant for you.’

Alleluia: Luke 1: 76

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

76 You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.

(76. And you, little child, you shall be called Prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare a way for him,

77. to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,

78. because of the faithful love of our God in which the rising Sun has come from on high to visit us,

79. to give light to those who live in darkness and the shadow dark as death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace).

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel : Luke 1:57‐66,80

The time came for Elizabeth to have her child, and she gave birth to a son; and when her neighbours and relations heard that the Lord had shown her so great a kindness, they shared her joy. Now on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother spoke up. ‘No,’ she said ‘he is to be called John.’ They said to her, ‘But no one in your family has that name’, and made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called. The father asked for a writing‐tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And they were all astonished. At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke and praised God. All their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea. All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him. Meanwhile the child grew up and his spirit matured. And he lived out in the wilderness until the day he appeared openly to Israel.

For our reflection today:

The entire event of the birth of John the Baptist is surrounded by a joyous sense of wonder, surprise and gratitude. Wonder, surprise, gratitude. The people are filled with a holy fear of God “and all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea” (v. 65). Brothers and sisters, the faithful people sense that something great has occurred, even though it is humble and hidden, and they ask themselves: “What then will this child be?” (v. 66). The faithful People of God are able to live the faith with joy, with a sense of wonder, of surprise and of gratitude. We see those people who spoke well about this marvelous thing, this miracle of John’s birth, and they did so with joy, they were happy, with a sense of wonder, surprise and gratitude. And looking at this, let us ask ourselves: how is my faith? Is it a joyous faith or is it a faith that is always the same, a ‘dull’ faith? Do I feel a sense of wonder when I see the Lord’s works, when I hear about evangelization or the life of a saint, or when I see many good people do I feel the grace within, or does nothing move in my heart? Am I able to feel the Spirit’s consolation or am I closed off? Let us ask ourselves, each of us, in an examination of conscience: How is my faith? Is it joyful? Is it open to God’s surprises? Because God is the God of surprises. Have I ‘tasted’ in my soul that sense of wonder which the presence of God brings, that sense of gratitude? Let us think about these words which are the moods of faith: joy, a sense of wonder, a sense of surprise and gratitude. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 24 June 2018)

Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,

Most High Servant,

Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love (Blessed  and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)