Catechist Background and Preparation
To prepare for the session read all the readings.
Isaiah 49:1-6
Psalm 139:1-3, 13-14, 14-15
Acts 13:22-26
Luke 1:57-66, 80

Spend a few minutes reflecting on what these readings mean for you today. Was there a particular reading which appealed to you? Was there a word or image that engaged you?

Read the Word in Liturgy and Catholic Doctrine sections. These give you background on what you will be doing this session. Read over the session outline and make it your own. Check to see what materials you will need for the session.

The Word In Liturgy
Our earliest record of a feast celebrating the birth of Jesus stems from the fourth century. Not long afterward, Christians began to mark the day of John the Baptist’s birth as well. It is surely not coincidental that the date assigned for Christ’s birth was the winter solstice—the “birth” of the sun—while the date observed for John’s birth was the summer solstice six months earlier. The Church celebrates the feast of most saints on the day of their death, when they entered heaven. We celebrate the birth of only two saints, however: the Blessed Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. Mary, by virtue of her immaculate conception, entered the world sinless at her birth. Tradition has suggested that John was also freed from original sin when he “leaped for joy” in his mother’s womb upon meeting the Savior (Luke 1:41, 44); and so he, too, is regarded as having entered sinless into the world at his birth.

The liturgy chooses Isaiah’s second Suffering Servant Song to be read at the Mass during the day. (The Vigil Mass also has a text from Jeremiah about being called before birth.) Scholars debate the exact origin and reference intended by this collection of poems in the Book of Isaiah that speak of a mysterious figure who will redeem his people through vicarious suffering. Most often, Christians have used the Suffering Servant Songs to understand more deeply the identity and mission of Jesus. Here, however, the vocation of the precursor of Jesus is highlighted. The application of this text to John seems dictated especially by its emphasis on the prophet being chosen from the womb (“from my mother’s womb he gave me my name”).