12th SUNDAY  OF  THE  YEAR (Cycle C) NATIVITY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST "I am not fit to undo his sandals." ENTRANCE  ANTIPHON There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came to bear witness to the light, to prepare an upright people for the Lord. PENITENTIAL  RITE Today we are privileged to celebrate the birthday of John the Baptist. He announced to the world that the Messiah was about to come. John the Baptist helped the people to get ready to receive Jesus as their Saviour. Are we announcing Christ to the world? Are we prepared to accept him into our hearts during this celebration of the Eucharist? (Pause) I confess… Glory to God… OPENING  PRAYER Let us pray. God our Father, you raised up John the Baptist to prepare a perfect people for Christ the Lord. Give your Church joy in spirit and guide those who believe in you into the way of salvation and peace. We ask this through Jesus Christ your son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God for ever and ever. FIRST  READING (Prophet Isaiah was chosen to bring back to Jahveh not only the people of Israel but all nations as well.) A reading from the book of Isaiah (49:1-6) Listen to me, O coastlands, and hearken, you people from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." But I said, "I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God." And now the Lord says, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him for I am honoured in the eyes of the Lord and my God has become my strength – he says: "it is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." This is the Word of the Lord PSALM (138) Response: I thank 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. R./ 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. R./ 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. R./ SECOND  READING (Jesus’ coming was heralded by John when he proclaimed a baptism of repentance.) A reading from the Acts of the Apostles (13:22-26) Paul said, "God raised up David to be the king of our ancestors; of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will’. Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a Saviour, Jesus, as he promised. Before his coming John had preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie’. "Brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you that fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation." This is the Word of the Lord ACCLAMATION (Lk 1:76) Alleluia, alleluia! You, child, will be called the prophet of the most high; for you shall go before the Lord to prepare his ways. Alleluia! GOSPEL (All those who heard about John wondered and said, "What will this child turn out to be, and indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.") A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Luke (1:57-66,80) The time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son. And her neighbours and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said, "Not so; he shall be called John." And they said to her, "None of your kindred is called by this name." And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called. And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they all marvelled. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbours. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea; and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" for the hand of the Lord was with him. And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel. This is the Gospel of the Lord I believe in God,/the Father Almighty,/Creator of heaven and earth./ I believe in Jesus Christ,/his only Son, our Lord./He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit/ and born of the Virgin Mary./He suffered under Pontius Pilate,/was crucified, died, and was buried./He descended to the dead./On the third day he rose again./He ascended into Heaven,/and is seated at the right hand of the Father./He will come again to judge the living and the dead./I believe in the Holy Spirit,/the Holy Catholic Church,/the communion of saints,/the forgiveness of sins,/the resurrection of the body,/and the life everlasting./ Amen. PRAYER  OF  THE  FAITHFUL Cel: Dear brothers and sisters, Isaiah spoke of Jesus as servant of Jahveh. John was more than happy to remain the Servant’s servant. He led people back to Jesus. Let us pray to God, our Father that we too may contribute our mite in evangelizing the world. Response: Lord, hear our prayer. 1. For our holy Father, bishops, priests, religious and catechists that they may reflect time and again upon their call and remain faithful to it, let us pray. R./ 2. For our Christian community that our mutual love may be a light that leads non-Christians to God, let us pray. R./ 3. For each one of us that we may rejoice at the thought that God chose us from the beginning and guides us at every step in our lives, let us pray. R./ 4. For those messengers of the gospel who do not live up to the standard in the work God has entrusted to them, that like John the Baptist they may be faithful to their call, let us pray. R./ (Pray for personal/local needs.) Cel: Almighty God, we thank you for having chosen us out of love to be your messengers. You are at our side always; help us to carry out our mission with joy. We make this prayer…. PRAYER  OVER  THE  GIFTS Father, accept the gifts we bring to your altar to celebrate the birth of John the Baptist, who foretold the coming of our Saviour and made him known when he came. We ask this in the name of the Lord. PREFACE (P 61) COMMUNION  ANTIPHON Through the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us. PRAYER  AFTER  COMMUNION Lord, you have renewed us with this eucharist, as we celebrate the feast of John the Baptist, who foretold the coming of the Lamb of God. May we welcome your Son as our Saviour, for he gives us new life and is Lord forever and ever. LITURGY  AND  LIFE Luke describes the birth of John the Baptizer in parallel with that of Jesus. Their mothers are cousins. Like Jesus, John also is circumcised on the eighth day as the Jewish custom was. John received a divinely inspired name that departs from what a Jewish family would be expected to give. He is given the name John – God is gracious. Of all the details concerning John’s birth, his name may be the most significant. John and Jesus were close relatives, they were cousins and both were contemporaries. Jesus had deep love for John. No one ever received a higher praise from Jesus – "Among the children born of women, there is no one greater than John" (Lk 7:28). John performs his dual function: on the one hand he so thoroughly matches his people’s expectations that they think he is the Messiah. On the other hand he is a mere voice, crying in the wilderness. One could hardly blame John for entertaining doubts about the identity of Jesus. Anxious to find out whether Jesus was the promised one, for whom he had prepared the people by his teaching, John sent his messengers to Jesus with an urgent question, "Are you the one that is to come or are we to wait for someone else?" The reply given by Jesus indicated that his ministry was one of healing and life-giving. The deaf were hearing, the blind were seeing, people were experiencing a new life and the poor were receiving the good news that God was on their side. From this answer John could conclude that Christ was the true Messiah. John told the people to cut down the hills of pride and prejudice and all the other kinds of sin and fill the valleys of their life with virtues and good deeds. He exhorted the people to reform their lives by repenting of their sins and by undergoing a baptism of purification in Jordan. When a group of Pharisees and Sadducees approached, he confronted their complacency and warned them not to depend on the good name of past generations. As a preacher, teacher and prophet, John pointed beyond himself and was a signpost showing the coming of Christ into the world. His outspokenness and fearlessness earned him imprisonment in a dungeon and the prospect of death. Once he came to realize who Jesus was he could die with the assurance that his own life had been meaningful and worthwhile. As Christians are we, like John the Baptist, ready to stand against injustice and immorality?   June 2007 READINGS  OF  THE  WEEK (Psalter Week 4) 25 /Mon (G) Gn 12:1-9; Ps 32:12-13,18-19,20&22; Mt 7:1-5 26/Tue (G) Gn 13:2,5-18; Ps 14:1b-3a,3b-4b,4c-5; Mt 7:6,12-14 27/Wed (G/W) Or S. Cyril of Alexandria, bp dr Gn 15:1-12,17-18; Ps 104:1-2,3-4,6-7,8-9; Mt 7:15-20 28/Thu (R) S. Irenaeus, bp m – mem Gn 16:1-12,15-16 (or 16:6b-12,15-16); Ps 105:1-2,3-4ab,4c-5; Mt 7:21-29 29/Fri (R) Ss. PETER & PAUL, Aps– Sol Ac 12:1-11; Ps 33:2-3,4-5,6-7,8-9; 2 Tm 4:6-8,17-18; Mt 16:13-19 2 30/Sat (G/R/W) Or The First Martyrs of the Church of Rome Or BVM on Saturday Gn 18:1-15;Ps Lk 1:46-47,48-49,50&53,54&55b; Mt 8:5-17