GOSPEL REFLECTION, WEDNESDAY,12TH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME, 24 JUNE 2026, NATIVITY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST, SOLEMNITY

Luke 1:57-66, 80.  It is fitting that today’s gospel is Luke’s account of the birth and naming of John the Baptist.  He was a kinsman of the lord, likely cousins, since Mary, Jesus’ mother, was kin to Elizabeth, John’s mother.  There are striking parallels and differences between John’s and Jesus’ lives, but notable differences too.  Jesus’ birth to Mary was divinely announced; John’s birth to Elizabeth was divinely announced to Zechariah the High Priest, his father.  Mary made a long journey to visit Elizabeth when both were pregnant, at their meeting the child John leapt in Elizabeth’s womb at his recognition of Jesus in Mary’s womb.  Both John and Jesus lead devout lives, responding to Scripture and Jewish tradition.  Both preached to crowds, John as forerunner announcing Jesus’ ministry to come, but denying that he was the ‘Expected One,’ but affirming Jesus was instead.   When it came time for both John and Jesus to be named, their names were announced by their fathers, names that had been divinely revealed to them.  Jesus was baptised by John.  John was killed for speaking truth to power, and so was Jesus.  As John’s ministry came to an end with his death, so Jesus’ public ministry began.  Their lives were deeply intertwined.  Christians through the ages have memorialised their connection, as we do today at Mass.  Christian artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarrotti frequently showed Mary nursing Jesus with the infant John standing close by, paying attention to the relationship between them.  Such images, along with today’s gospel urge us to consider that exact relationship.