Nativity of St. John the Baptist
Epistle: Isaiah 1-3, 5-7; Gospel: Like 1: 57-68
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost – June 24, 2012
Epistle: Romans 8: 18-23; Gospel: Luke 5: 1-11
From the barrenness of Elizabeth emerged the forerunner of He Who is Life. To the world which lay “in sin and error” was given the gift of the greatest and the last prophet, John, who tells Israel to “make straight the way of the Lord.” (John 1: 23)
An Angel appeared to the Old Covenant priest Zachary, John’s father, as he was in the temple fulfilling his duty to offer incense to God. He foretold the birth of Zachary’s son, and the name given to him, John, means filled with grace. This was a unique blessing. Most saints’ feast days are on the day of their birth into heaven, not their birth into the life we know. John possessed all virtues in an heroic degree, in penance, prayer, zeal, charity and profound humility. He was a virgin, martyr and prophet whose calling was to point out to the world Him whom the ancient prophets foretold only obscurely and from a distance.
When the Virgin Mary came to visit her cousin Elizabeth and greeted her, the infant John leaped in his mother’s womb. Some believe that John was given the extraordinary grace to recognize his Lord and therefore leapt with joy, and that it was at this point that the stain of original sin may have been removed from his soul. This would be in keeping with what the Angel said of him, that “he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.” (Luke 1: 15) By his life, St. John calls on us to disengage from the world and to imitate, even if in private, his life of penance, fasting, prayer and humility.
Today is also the 4th Sunday after Pentecost. St. Paul says in his epistle for this day: “Brethren: I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us.” Satan's efforts to capture our souls is fierce, but the Virtue of Hope we have as Christians is like a body armor made in Heaven. This Virtue of Hope enters our souls and tells us of the vast difference between our struggles in this life and the perfect life of heaven. This is what St. Paul is telling us, no matter how bad off we are, it can’t be compared to the joys of heaven.
When you are tempted, ask Our Father in heaven through His Son Jesus, for the grace to remain holy. If you are tempted repeatedly with the same sin, turn yourself over to our Mother Mary. She will obtain for you the graces you need to break away from Satan and to enjoy peace of mind, to live a life of freedom, free from sin and error.
Regarding today's Gospel, there are two separate but similar stories of our Lord telling His Apostles to cast their nets out. Today's event took place before Christ’s Passion, and the Gospel states that the net was merely cast into the water with no notice taken of how many fish or what kind were taken, only that the net broke. St. John tells us of the second incident which took place after Jesus had risen from the dead. (John 21: 1-13) In this second incident the Apostles are told to cast their net on the right side of their boat, and we are told that they caught exactly 153 “great fish,” and that the net did not break.
The Fathers of the Church are unanimous in their interpretation of these two events. They both represent the Church. The first, from today in St. Luke’s Gospel, represents the Church as She now is, a multitude, without distinguishing between good and bad. The second, from St. John, represents the Church after the Resurrection of the Dead at the end of time. Then only the good will compose the Church, as represented by the term “great fish,” and “153” to indicate that the number who compose the Church at the end of time will never change.
St. Augustine describes these two events well. The fishers of men cast their nets and have filled their ships with a multitude of Christians. But the multitude weighs down the ships to the point of sinking. We witness this today in the Church, the pressing crowd of the baptized is a burden to the Church. Many Christians live badly. They are a trouble to keep and they hold back good people. There are also those who break the net of the Faith with heresies and schisms. They are pleased with themselves, and under the pretext that they cannot live with the bad -- those who steal from the Church's funds or those who abuse children, for example -- they tear the net which kept them in the track of the Apostles and they die far from shore where Jesus stands with His Church.
The gifts of water and wine offered on the altar today for transformation into the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, are a figure of the faithful themselves. “It is on this account that the Church prays in the prayer called the Secret that our Lord would draw to Himself our rebel wills and change them as He is about to change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.
St. Augustine calls the Eucharist the “Sacrament of Hope” because of its promise to resurrected humanity of the future glories of that new life. We pray today in the Post Communion prayer that our sins will be removed and will not prevent this Sacrament of Hope from producing its full effect in us, which is to lead us to the perfection of happiness.
Consider the obedience and faith of Peter and the fishermen in the boats. St. Chrysostom notes that they have a pleasant occupation of fishing, but “as soon as they hear His command they do not hesitate, but, leaving all things, they follow Him. Such is the obedience Christ requires of us.” These men were the first called to the priesthood of the New Covenant in the Catholic Church. We are not all called to a religious life, but everyone who hears or reads these words is called to follow Christ. “If to-day you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” (Psalm 94: 8) +++
We Celebrate the Traditional Tridentine Latin Mass: The Mass of The Ages
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