Sunday June 24th: It's this way...

Today we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist and listen to Luke’s account of his nativity. Don’t panic, advent hasn’t arrived yet! John’s story is one of sacrifice and humility. His parents know there will be something very special about this child. Jewish historians account that John was a preacher around the time of Pontius Pilate who went around calling people to renewal! He spent a lot of time in the wilderness, eating wild things and wearing sackcloth. People flocked to the River Jordan to be baptised by him, a symbol of their repentance or renewal of relationship with God. John was a preacher, a prophet, a signpost pointing people in the right direction. We can pray today for all those people who acted as signposts in our lives and brought us closer and closer to God: “Lord, we thank you for people who guided us, but did not try to possess us: parents, teachers, spiritual guides, friends. For a time we stood with them. Very simply, like john the Baptist, they said to us, ‘Look, there is the one you should follow,’ and hearing this we followed that person” (Michel de Verteuil).