23 December 2024
Homily
In his Gospel, Saint Luke establishes a rigorous parallel between John the Baptist and Jesus. He says of both Elizabeth and Mary: "When the time came for her to give birth, she bore a son". In the case of John, it was the neighbors who came to rejoice with the mother and child; in the case of Jesus, it was first the shepherds and then the Magi. Zechariah, like Joseph, has a somewhat understated role. With John, as with Jesus, we wonder ‘ what this child will be like ’. Both had a long preparation - John in the desert, Jesus in Nazareth - before a fairly short public life.