FEAST OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
FEAST OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
Dear Friends,
I’m a little slow on the uptake — enjoying summer too much, I guess. Yesterday, June 24th, was the Feast of St. John the Baptist. For most of us, that might slip by with not even a blip on the screen. But I ran across an interesting short piece by Richard Rohr, OFM, where he connects the solstice with St. John the Baptist and Jesus — so I’ll pass it on to you. A few of us gathered June 21st to observe the solstice. Probably not too many gathered to observe John the Baptists Feast Day — but I usually give it a nod as it was the day I was ordained to the Diaconate after graduating from seminary in 1982.
“It is not exactly six months until Christmas Eve (no - don’t rush out to begin your shopping!!), and the Christian version of the summer solstice, John the Baptists’ ‘birthday’ is seen as the counterpart to Jesus’ birthday who is born when it appears to be winter, but light is already returning.
Now at the height of summer, we are reminded that the darkness is already returning too. That is often the unwelcome role of the prophet, to reveal the shadow side of things when everyone is cheering and celebrating supposed victories. John’s memorable statement that “he must grow greater and I must grow smaller” was seen mirrored in the very cycles of the cosmos. Christianity does not always realize how nature based its messages invariably are — and how we can know them just by “looking.”
A question to ponder: Who are my prophetic voices?
Continue to enjoy your summer days. Summer Blessings. Cindy
