A Child Wth A Mission

We celebrate the Solemnity of the Nativity of John the Baptist today.  We celebrate the birth of only two others, Jesus and Mary, so John is "up there" with the greats.  Yet his birth is surrounded by strange happenings: he is not given his father's name, but John, as announced by the Angel Gabriel.  His father speaks after indicating that he will be called John. "Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea.  All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, 'What then, will this child be ? for surely the hand of the Lord was with him'" (Lk 1: 65-66) 
When any new child comes into this world, don't we all wonder what is in store for him or her? In John's case, his life was certainly "different":  he lived in the desert until he began his pointed preaching toward repentance, baptizing those who heeded his words.  He pointed out "the Lamb of God" and baptized him; he confronted the public sin of Herod who took his brother's wife, and paid the price of his life for it. At his birth, none of these details were apparent, but that he was no ordinary child was clear from the circumstances surrounding his birth.
We were all born with a mission, granted not as dramatic as John's, but in a similar pattern, we are called to witness to Jesus, to point to him by our lives and words, to be people of goodness and hope in a world where people are losing touch with these virtues. One good life can make a difference. May we live up to that challenge.
Bro. Rene