“St. John the Baptist was born to preach the message of repentance: the need to accept ourselves as sinner, and the need to accept Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away our sins and those of the whole world.”

We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or to the guilt of a sin. — CS Lewis: (1898 –1963: was a British novelist, poet, & academic)

Gospel Text: (LK 1:57-66, 80)

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child
she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
"No. He will be called John."
But they answered her,
"There is no one among your relatives who has this name."
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name,"
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
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.
The child grew and became strong in spirit,
and he was in the desert until the day
of his manifestation to Israel.

We live in a world where personal attacks however false are used to destroy the opposition. To silence critics with false news and violence shows a basic disregard for the basic rule of truth and honesty. Dishonest people have no place in the kingdom of God.

We pray for the gift of courage to speak and live the truth at all times, no matter what the cost may be. – Just as John the Baptist did!

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