Happy Birthday St.John the Baptist!

His is the only other birthday that we celebrate in the Liturgy of the Church, aside from Mary’s and Jesus’. We celebrate it just after the summer solstice, after which the days begin to get shorter. It fits with the celebration of Jesus’ birthday, 6 months later, that takes place just after the winter solstice as the days begin to get longer. With this in mind we are reminded of John the Baptist’s saying in scripture “He must increase, I must decrease.” (John 3:30). We could truly grow when we begin to model our lives after him, ‘God must become greater, I must become less.’

Here are some further thoughts from the scripture readings today, spoken so well by Jeff Cavins: