June 24

The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist

Vigil Mass

Readings

First Reading
Jer 1:4–10

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 71:1–2, 3–4, 5–6, 15, 17

Second Reading
1 Pt 1:8–12

Gospel
Lk 1:5–17

Meditation on Today’s Readings

Taken from the Vatican II Sunday and Weekday Missal
Written by Celia Sirois

The readings for today underscore the unity and continuity of God’s unfolding plan. In today’s first reading, as God dedicated Jeremiah from the womb to be a prophet to the nations, so is John dedicated from the womb to be the prophet of the Most High (cf. 1:76). Like Samuel, he is a Nazirite, drinking “neither wine nor strong drink” and, Elijah-like, he is sent “to prepare a people fit for the Lord.” Within his account of the annunciation to Zechariah as well, Luke makes a number of similar connections. Zechariah and Elizabeth, for example, are like Abraham and Sarah, too advanced in years now to be capable of having a child. They also resemble Elkanah and Hannah, the parents of Samuel, whose birth was announced to them in the sanctuary where they were making their annual visit to offer sacrifice.

All these interconnections are Luke’s way of “reassuring” us (cf. 1:4), as Peter reassures his churches in the second reading, that the new thing God has done in Christ, though essentially unpredictable, is of a piece with all prior acts of God in Israel’s history.

The copyright for the Sunday Missal Introductions is:
Copyright (c) 2001, Daughters of St. Paul
The copyright for the Weekday Missal Introduction is:
Copyright (c) 2002, Daughters of St. Paul