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TWENTY-FOURTH OF JUNE
SOLEMNITY OF THE NATIVITY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST
REFLECTION
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HOMILY BY SAINT AMBROSE
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Elizabeth brought forth a son,
and her neighbours rejoiced with her.
The birth of saints bring joy to very many,
since it is a benefit to all;
for justice is a virtue for all.
And so, in the birth of a just man,
a token of his future life is foreshown,
and the grace of the virtue to come is expressed
by the prophetic joy of the neighbours.
It is fitting that there should be mention
of the time when the Prophet was in the womb,
lest the presence of Mary should not be remembered;
but nothing is told of the time of his childhood,
for he did not know the disabilities of childhood.
And so we read nothing of him in the Gospel,
except his birth, and his announcement,
the leaping in the womb,
the voice in the wilderness.
For he did not experience
the helplessness of childhood,
he who supernaturally,
outstripping his age,
began from the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ,
when still lying in his mother’s womb.
It is strange how the holy Evangelist
thought it necessary to tell us
that many considered that the child
should be called by his father’s name of Zachary;
in order that you might notice
that the mother would not have the name of any relative,
but only that given by the Holy Spirit,
which the angel had previously announced to Zachary.
And indeed, the latter, still dumb,
could not tell his wife the name of their son;
but Elizabeth learned by prophecy
what she had not learned from her husband.
“John,” he says, “is his name”;
that is, it is not for us to give a name
to the one who has already received
a name from God.
He has his name, which we know,
but we did not choose it.
To receive a name from God is one of the rewards of the saints.
So Jacob was called Israel,
because he saw God.
So our Lord Jesus was named before he was born;
not an angel, however,
but his Father gave him his name.
You see that angels announce what they have heard,
not what they take upon themselves.
Do not wonder that the woman
pronounced a name she had not heard,
when the Holy Spirit,
who had commanded the angel,
revealed it to her.
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(ROMAN BREVIARY)
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responsorialpsalmcatholic 