THE BIRTHDAY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST
O my God, I love Thee with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength and with no other desire than to be inseparably united to Thee. It is through Thy Divine Son that this union is about to be realized within me. In Holy Communion I long to identify myself with Him, that it will no longer be myself, but Him, who lives in me; and when I have received Jesus within myself, then I shall love and be loved by Thee in that same measure, in which I am united to Him. Hasten then, to give me Thy Divine Son, at the hands of Thy priest, that through Jesus, I may unite myself forever to Thee, O God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
First Reading Isaiah 49:1-6
I will make you the light of the nations so that my
Islands, listen to me, pay
attention, remotest peoples. The Lord called me before I was born, from my
mother’s womb he pronounced my name. He made my mouth a sharp sword, and hid me
in the shadow of his hand. He made me into a sharpened arrow, and concealed me
in his quiver. He said to me, ‘You are my servant (Israel) in whom I shall be
glorified’; while I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in vain, I have exhausted
myself for nothing’; and all the while my cause was with the Lord, my reward
with my God. I was honoured in the eyes of the Lord, my God was my strength. And
now the Lord has spoken, he who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring
Jacob back to him, to gather Israel to him: ‘It is not enough for you to be my
servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel;
I will make you the light of
the nationsso that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’
Responsorial Psalm
I thank you for the wonder of my being
Second Reading Acts 13:22-26
Jesus, whose coming was heralded by John
Paul said: ‘God deposed Saul
and made David their king, of whom he approved in these words, “I have selected
David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will carry out my whole
purpose.” To keep his promise, God has raised up for Israel one of David’s
descendants, Jesus, as Saviour, whose coming was heralded by John when he
proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the whole people of Israel. Before John
ended his career he said, “I am not the one you imagine me to be; that one is
coming after me and I am not fit to undo his sandal.”
‘My brothers, sons of
Abraham’s race, and all you who fear God, this message of salvation is meant
for you.’
Gospel
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
As for you, little child, you shall be called
a prophet of God, the Most High.
You shall go ahead of the Lord
to prepare his ways before him.
Alleluia! Lk. 1 :76
'His name is John'
Now on the eighth
day they came to circumcise the child; they were going to call him Zechariah
after his father, but his mother spoke up. ‘No,’ she said ‘he is to be called
John.’ They said to her, ‘But no one in your family has that name’, and made
signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called. The father asked for
a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And they were all astonished.
At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke and praised God. All
their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was talked about
throughout the hill country of Judaea. All those who heard of it treasured it
in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered. And
indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.
Meanwhile the
child grew up and his spirit matured. And he lived out in the wilderness until
the day he appeared openly to Israel.
God our Father, you raised up John the Baptist to prepare a perfect people for Christ the Lord. Give joy in spirit and guide those who believe in you into the way of salvation and peace. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Pauline Prayer of the Church for the Nativity of John the Baptist
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