Meditations for Advent 2024 - Day 17 - The Birth of John the Baptist

Join us on a contemplative journey as we unravel the insights from Day 17 of Advent, exploring the profound reflections of Bishop Jacques Bossuet. We'll reflect on the nurturing grace evident in Mary's three-month stay with Elizabeth and the awe-inspiring sanctification of John the Baptist in the womb. Witness the quiet strength of Mary's humility, offering a beacon of faith and patience amidst life's challenges. As we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist, we'll marvel at God's extraordinary mercy and intricate plans.

In our candid discussion, we confront the trials of maintaining faith in our religious leaders, drawing inspiration from Zachariah's story to distinguish between genuine obedience and mere compliance. As we look forward to meditating on themes of divine mercy and blessings, I humbly request your prayers for my 93-year-old grandmother, whose strength and perseverance are needed during her illness. Join us in this episode for reflections that inspire faith, obedience, and trust in God's work.

Chapters

• 0:00 Meditations on Mary and John
• 8:53 Reflections on Faith and Obedience

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

SANGRE, sangre, sangre, sangre, sangre, sangre, sangre, sangre, sangre, sangre, sangre, sangre In teis vera veros. Good morning everyone. Welcome to Day 17 of Advent. We are moving right along through Advent here and moving right along through our meditations. From Bishop Jacques Bosway, we have two meditations today. The first one is how Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months, and then the second one is the birth of John the Baptist. So let's get into it by starting with our prayer and moving into the meditations. So let's get into it by starting with our prayer and moving into the meditations. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen, jesus, my Savior, true God and true man and the true Christ, promised to the patriarchs and the prophets from the beginning of the world and, in time, faithfully bestowed to the holy people you have chosen. You have said by your holy and divine mouth this is eternal life. They know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Believing in these words and with the help of thy grace, I wish to be attentive to the task of knowing God and knowing you. So do I draw as near to you as I can, with a lively faith, to know God in you and by you, and to know him in a manner worthy of God, that is, in a manner that leads me to love and to obey him, in accord with the words of your beloved disciple. He who says I know him but disobeys his commandments is a liar, as well as your very own. He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. To know you well, o my God and dear Savior, I wish, always with the help of thy grace. Meditation 27. So do I wish to love you with true faith, a faith working through love, amen. Meditation 27.

Speaker 1: 2:30

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months. Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home. Luke 1.56. Charity must not be fleeting. Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months. Whoever bears grace should not go running about, but should allow time for grace to achieve its work. It was not enough for the babe to leap once in the womb, nor for Elizabeth to have exclaimed Blessed are you. It was necessary that the attraction of grace be strengthened, and this was what Mary did, or rather what Jesus did by staying for three months with his precursor.

Speaker 1: 3:17

Let us ponder this holy precursor, sanctified in his mother's womb. Like the rest of us. He was conceived in sin, but Jesus Christ wanted to make him holy before his birth. Jesus wanted John to enter into his office from his mother's womb. We must not be astonished to see John the Baptist so closely tied to Jesus from the very beginning of the Gospel of St John. John the Baptist, who was not the light, nevertheless had the task of bearing witness to the still hidden light. And even before his birth, john 1.8, he was not the light inasmuch as he was conceived in sin and awaited the presence of the Savior to be redeemed. The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. John 1.9. It was by this light that John was illuminated, so that we might understand that he shows Jesus Christ to the world by the light that he receives from Jesus Christ himself. O Mary, o Elizabeth, o John, such great things you show to us today. But, o Jesus, hidden God, who, without appearing, accomplished everything on this holy day, I adore you in this mystery and in all the hidden works of your grace.

Speaker 1: 4:44

Whether the Virgin saw the birth of St John, the Gospel did not wish to tell us. Elizabeth was in her sixth month when Mary came to visit, and Mary stayed about three months. Elizabeth was then at her term or close to it. The Gospel adds that the time of Elizabeth was accomplished, suggesting, according to some, that it was fulfilled while Mary was with her. Yet who will dare to say for certain, when the Gospel seems to have avoided declaring it? Either Mary, devoted to her solitude in anticipating the arrival of a great crowd at the time of the birth, took her leave beforehand, or, if she stayed with all the others, she remained there, humble and hidden and unknown, without being noticed amidst the great gathering, and content to have accomplished God's wishes for those to whom she had been sent. Oh the humility, oh the silence. It was a silence interrupted only by a song inspired by God. May I imitate her silence all my life, meditation 28.

Speaker 1: 5:57

The Birth of John the Baptist. Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son, and her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her and they rejoiced with her. Luke 1, 57-58. True gatherings of the friends and families of Christians should have for their object to celebrate the mercy that God has shown to us. Without this object, the congratulations we receive have nothing solid or sincere about them and are vain things. God weaves the fabric of His designs in a wonderful order. He intended the birth of John the Baptist to be renowned and the birth of his son to be celebrated.

Speaker 1: 6:43

In the prophecy of Zechariah, it was important to the plan of God that the one he would send to announce his son to the world should be famous from his birth. So here, under the pretext of ordinary civility, God gathers together those who would be the witnesses of the glory of John the Baptist, those who would speak of and remember his birth. For all of them were amazed, and the miracles that were seen at his birth were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying what then will this child be? Luke 1.65-66. Let us accustom ourselves to noting that the actions that seem most ordinary are secretly directed by the order of God and serve His designs without our noticing it, in such a way that nothing comes to pass by mere coincidence.

Speaker 1: 7:44

On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child. They would have named him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said Not, so he shall be called John. And they said to her None of your kindred is called by this name. And they made signs to his father inquiring what he would have him called, and he asked for a writing tablet and wrote His name is John. Luke 1, 59-63. This decision gave all to understand that the name had come from above. In fear came on all their neighbors. Luke 1, 65. The name John signifies grace, piety and mercy. God predestined this name for the precursor of his grace and mercy. It appears that Zechariah, to whom they spoke by signs, had become not only mute by his incredulity, but that the angel had also struck him deaf. Yet his hearing was restored to him at the same time as his power of speech, when he had obeyed the angel by giving his son the name John.

Speaker 1: 8:53

And those are our meditations for today. For today, yeah, I probably won't give a lack of faith, maybe not in the faith itself or in its doctrines, but I know I certainly at many times have a lack of faith in our priests, bishops and Pope, and I think we see with Zachariah there that obedience can help remedy, you know, any evil we cause by our lack of faith, and I don't mean like a fake or false obedience. You know that so many talk of when, especially when people talk to brads, you know, about just obeying the fact that our Latin masses are taken away from us, things like that. I'm not talking about that, but just obedience to God and his commandments, and just just true obedience like that. But yeah, so those are our meditations for today, on day 17.

Speaker 1: 10:45

Tomorrow let's see our two meditations. Our first one is called Blessed Be the Lord, the God of Israel, and then the second is the mercy promise to our fathers. So we will continue with those. And if I could ask a favor of everyone, my grandmother, who is 93, apparently is pretty ill, uh, caught something around Thanksgiving and and is is just not doing well, uh, and she is 93. So so if you could all just please pray for her um, you know whether whether she is nearing her her end or not just please say a prayer for her and for her final perseverance, I would greatly appreciate that. But we will continue with these meditations tomorrow, thank you.