24^th June, Solemnity of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist

In the second chapter of Luke’s gospel it is said of Mary shortly after the birth of her son that she ‘treasured’ the words of the shepherds and ‘pondered them in her heart’. In response to what her twelve year old son said when she and Joseph found him in the temple, it is said of her that she ‘treasured all these things in her heart’. In today’s gospel reading it is said of Elizabeth’s neighbours and relations that ‘they treasured it in their hearts’. They pondered over all that happened around the birth and circumcision of John the Baptist. They initially shared Elizabeth’s joy at the birth of her son, but when Zechariah confirmed that the name of his son would be John and then received back his speech, ‘they were all astonished’ and ‘they were filled with awe’. There was much to ponder and treasure here and the question which emerged from all that treasuring and pondering was, ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ We know the answer to that question. In the words of today’s second reading this child would go on to proclaim a ‘baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins’ so as to prepare people for the one ‘coming after’ him. We often think we know the gospel story, whether it is the story of the birth of John the Baptist or the story of the birth of Jesus or of his life, death and resurrection. Yet, there is always more to this story than we realize. There is always so much more to treasure, to ponder over and to be astonished by than we realize. There are always more questions to be engaged with than we might have thought. The response of people to the birth of John the Baptist in today’s gospel reading encourages us to keep returning to the well of the gospels and drinking afresh from it, so as to hear what the Lord may be saying to our hearts. The questions people ask in the gospels can be our questions. The gospel reading for this feast might prompt each of us to ask, ‘What will I turn out to be?’ We are never fully formed, no matter how old we are. We are not yet fully ‘turned out’. There is always scope for our spirit to mature, in the language of today’s gospel reading.