Tag: john-the-baptist

Happy St. John’s (the Baptist) Eve!

A little-recognized holiday in the US is St. John’s Day, which begins at sunset on June 23 and goes through June 24. It celebrates the birth of John the Baptist. According to the gospel story, Elizabeth, John’s older mother, was about six months ahead of her cousin Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus. Of course, we do not know the exact date of Jesus’ birth, but we celebrate it on December 24-25, six months from now. Hence, the date. This is one of two saints’ days that celebrate the saint’s birth, rather than their death. (The other is Mary, September 8.)

In places where it is celebrated, people build fires or carry torches, symbols of John proclaiming the light coming into the world. Often, baptisms are held on this day.

John was most known in the Gospels for his ministry of calling people to a new life, and his baptisms as a sign of that. Most notably, his baptism of Jesus. He was known for speaking out for the poor and oppressed and against the ruling government. Some scholars think that John did not baptize anyone after Jesus. Jesus introduced a new message and kingdom, and John’s ministry in that area was over. Yet others believe he continued, because the stories indicate that he continued his ministry. Still, that ministry could have been preaching against the corrupt government. For which he lost his head.

Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain was originally titled St. John’s Night on the Bare Mountain. It was based on Gogol’s story “St. John’s Eve”. The “scary” music is brought to a peaceful end with the sounding of church bells. Perhaps Mussorgsky was trying to illustrate the movement from a judgmental theology (John) to a theology of peace (Jesus). Though it is not precisely like Mussorgsky, Disney’s scene from the music in Fantasia, moving from the terror of the night to Ave Maria, conveys the same thing.

In the movie The Greatest Story Ever Told, John is played by Charlton Heston. There are some great scenes of him. When the soldiers come to arrest him at the Jordan River, he starts trying to baptize them, pushing them into the water and yelling, “Repent!” When Herod confronts him and says, “I am your king!” he responds, “I have no king but God!” And when Herod sends him off to die, you hear him yelling “Repent!” until you hear the thump of the executioner’s ax. Here’s a montage of the scenes.

How will I celebrate this day? I will listen to Mussorgsky. Maybe watch The Greatest Story Ever Told. I’ll shine a light for a coming kingdom, speak up for the oppressed, and speak against the corruption we see today. I hope to be more like John’s cousin, Jesus, but something of the passion in John appeals to me. I hope I don’t lose my life over it, but as John said to Herod (in the movie) when Herod said he was going to kill him, “No. You are going to set me free.”

A blessed St. John’s Day to you!

A Meditation  for June 24

Do you remember the advertising slogan “Only (fill in the number) shopping days until Christmas”? It pretty much went out of fashion in the early 1970s. It was then that stores started opening on Sunday afternoon. Now, except for Hobby Lobby and Chic-Fil-A and a few others, most stores are open every day, all day. And with online shopping with overnight delivery à la Amazon, there are almost no times when you can’t get what you want immediately.

But it used to not be that way. You had to wait and plan and work and hope. And then, one not so surprising morning, you would wake up and there would be a new world for you, just waiting to be unwrapped.

By the way, that slogan was first used by Harry Gordon Selfridge, a manager at Marshall Field’s in Chicago and the founder of Selfridge’s in London. The television series Mr. Selfridge is a great show about him.

So…what does that have to do with June 24? June 24 is the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist. It is considered to be his birth date. Most of the saints have their Feast Day on the day of their death (the day they entered Heaven), but John the Baptist and Mary the Mother of Jesus are the only two who are celebrated on their birth day.

June 24 happens to be 6 months before Christmas Eve. Though the actual day of John’s birth is unknown, it is celebrated on this day because it foretells the coming of one who would introduce a new world later. John came before Jesus to get people ready. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the prophet Isaiah says

“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 flesh shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:3-5)

In the Christian Scriptures, John is baptizing people in the Jordan and the Jewish leaders come to find out who he was. The apostle John (don’t confuse the two) records this in John 1-

This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed and did not deny it, but he confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”  He said,

“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ ” as the prophet Isaiah said. (John 1:19-23)

Not many places or people celebrate this Feast Day, but in those places where they do, they often build fires in the evening, sing, dance, eat, and share things with the needy. In some places, people go to worship, then come out, find a nearby body of water (river, lake, pool, ocean), and jump in, fully clothed. It is reminiscent of John’s baptism of people.

I have a suggestion- do things that show a new world is coming, and parts of it can be seen now. Do what John told people to do- share what you have with those in need. “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise.” It’s a little too hot to build fires where I am now, and I don’t want to jump in anything fully clothed. But you know, I can share what I do have. So can you.

And, by the way, don’t just give away what you don’t want or what is worn out. After all, if your brother or sister needed a shirt, would you give them one with a hole in it?

Then, take some time to dance, sing, eat, pray, and look forward to a day in the near future when a new world will be waiting for you to unwrap it.