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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

“Today we sing praise to you, O John, Messenger, Forerunner, and Baptizer, saying: You are the child whose birth was announced by an angel sent by God. You are the voice crying out in the wilderness and the prophet to whom the mystery of the Lord was revealed while still in your mother’s womb.” – The Prayer of Forgiveness and Incensing

Today the Maronite Church celebrates the birth of John the Baptist and how he fulfilled his mission so faithfully. We can ask ourselves whether we too make straight the ways of the Lord so that He may enter the souls of those friends and relatives of ours who are still far from him. So much depends on each of us, if we respond to Christ’s grace many people will remain in darkness no longer.

St. Augustine points out that the Church celebrates the birth of John as something sacred, and he is in fact the only saint whose day of his birth is celebrated, we celebrate the birth of John and that of Christ. (Sermon 293,1). He was the great forerunner of Christ, provoking the greatest religious revival in Israel’s history, drawing the people of Judea to the river Jordan to confess their sins. As Christians we are called to be forerunners of Christ in today’s world.
John’s sanctity, his strong and attractive virtues, his preaching … had contributed little by little to giving substance to some people’s thinking that John himself was the long-awaited Messiah.
Deeply humble, John wants only the glory of God when he says: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:27-30). God wants something similar for us; to pass unnoticed whilst we do good and fulfill our duties and obligations with human perfection.

Today, I will have the immense joy to ordain Elias Liatsos to the sacred priesthood. Let us pray for this brother of ours and for his family. May St. John the Baptist obtain for our Archeparchy a great harvest of vocations.
Catechism of the Catholic Church #1589

Before the grandeur of the priestly grace and office, the holy doctors felt an urgent call to conversion to conform their whole lives to him whose sacrament had made them ministers. Thus St. Gregory of Nazianzus, as a young priest, exclaimed:
We must begin by purifying ourselves before purifying others;
we must be instructed to be able to instruct, become light to illuminate,
draw close to God to bring him close to others, be sanctified to sanctify,
lead by the hand and counsel prudently.

Prayer
St. John the Baptist, you are the sign of God’s mercy and an apostle of the King of Peace. Obtain from the Heart of Christ peace for so many places in the world today.

† Selim Sfeir
Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus