INTRODUCTION  (Leader)
Behold I send my messenger before your face, Who will prepare Your way before You. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight'.

Comments (read by a member of the community)

St John's is the only saint's birthday celebrated throughout the church calendar year. St. John is remembered on three other days as well, but they all deal with the discovery of his Holy relics.

His father, Zacharias, a Hebrew priest, was struck dumb by the Archangel Gabriel at the altar when he would not believe the archangel's news that his wife Elizabeth (a very old woman) would conceive a son. He got his voice back when writing, on the day of the child's circumcision, that his name would be John. According to Eastern traditions, when Herod sent soldiers to kill the infants in Jerusalem in search of Jesus, St. John also was at risk. Elizabeth hid the baby, and in anger Herod had Zacharias killed near the temple. Elizabeth hid in a cave with the baby and died when he was forty days old. St. John remained in the wilderness where he was raised by angels.

The presence of St. John and his disciples was not felt until about one year before the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. He preached repentance in the wilderness and not the cities, and the crowds came to him. He is known as the Baptist and Forerunner of Christ, because of his role in preparing the people for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
 

OPENING PRAYER  (together)
Almighty God, by whose providence your servant John the Baptist was wonderfully born, and sent to prepare the way of your Son our Saviour by preaching repentance: Make us so to follow his teaching and holy life, that we may truly repent according to his preaching; and, following his example, constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth's sake; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
 

READING  (Recited like a psalm - either in choir, as a group, or individuals taken a verse)

Isaiah 40:1-11
Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins.

A voice cries out:
"In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.                                
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.

Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

A voice says, "Cry out!"
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
All people are grass,
their constancy is like the flower of the field.

The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand forever.

Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
"Here is your God!"

See, the Lord GOD comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.

He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead the mother sheep.

Glory be to you, source of all Being ...
 

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist Beatitude Verses (from the Orthdox tradition) - may be prayed in choir or by individuals.  Homage is paid to Mary in this prayer.

The birth giving of the Master is accomplished through the Virgin, while that of His beloved servant is through an elderly and barren mother; wherefore, -- Wonder of wonders! - he goes on before splendour.

The elderly and barren woman kisses the Virgin Mother, truly recognizing her birth giving, for the bond of her barrenness has been loosed by the will of God.

Today John is born: the citizen of the desert, the preacher of repentance, the true witness of grace, the Forerunner of the Word, the star which shines before the Light.

Today, the axe which has been forged bodes hewing for barren souls, plants the fruits of the virtues, and comes forth steadily in thy nativity, O Forerunner.

Jordan has rejoiced most gloriously and leaps up, learning that John is born of the barren one=s womb; and the sea dances with leaping waters.

O Most immaculate Theotokos, who gave birth to the Abyss of mercy: Drowning the abyss of my passions in the depth of thy compassions, grant me a torrent of tears from the depths of my soul.

GOSPEL
When Elizabeth was full-term in her pregnancy, she bore a son. Her neighbours and relatives, seeing that God had overwhelmed her with mercy, celebrated with her. On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child and were calling him Zachariah after his father. But his mother intervened: "No. He is to be called John."

"But," they said, "no one in your family is named that." They used sign language to ask Zachariah what he wanted him named. Asking for a tablet, Zachariah wrote, "His name is to be John." That took everyone by surprise.

Surprise followed surprise--Zachariah's mouth was now open, his tongue loose, and he was talking, praising God! A deep, reverential fear settled over the neighbourhood, and in all that Judean hill country people talked about nothing else. Everyone who heard about it took it to heart, wondering, "What will become of this child? Clearly, God has his hand in this. The child grew up, healthy and spirited. He lived out in the desert until the day he made his prophetic debut in Israel.

Reflection and Sharing Questions

Where do I see the unfolding of salvation history in the world around me?
How do I exercise my mission as "advance agent" for Christ?
 

PAUSE FOR QUIET REFLECTION AND SHARING LEADING TO INTERCESSORY PRAYER

Intentions

    - From the community

Closing Prayer

    - a Marian prayer (Hail Mary, or Hail Holy Queen)
 

Closing Hymn:        Come Now is the Time (from CD, The Heart of Being Brother)