Isaiah 49:1-6 / Acts 13:22-26 / Luke 1:57-66, 80
Today the Church celebrates the birth of John the Baptist. John the Baptist has a special place in the story of salvation because it was he who pointed out Jesus the Saviour to the people.
It was he who also baptised Jesus in the Jordon before Jesus began His ministry.
John the Baptist was like a forerunner who prepares the people for the coming of the Messiah in the person of Jesus Christ.
If it can be said of John the Baptist, he was like that sharpened arrow that was concealed in the quiver that was described in the 1st reading.
As in ancient warfare, the shooting of a volley of arrows signals the impending attack of an army, John the Baptist was that one single arrow that carried a message of repentance and conversion.
Like an arrow that is concealed in the quiver, John the Baptist was hidden in the desert until the appointed time came for him to be the prophet who proclaimed the message of repentance in preparation for the coming of the Messiah.
We too are like arrows in the quiver of God. Concealed in the quiver, we prepare ourselves in prayer for whatever mission that God has for us.
And just as an arrow has only one target, so may we be focused on what God's will is for us just as John the Baptist was focused on what his mission was.
When his mission ended, John the Baptist also gracefully decreased in order that Jesus would increase.
May we too carry out our mission faithfully so that God's love will increase in the hearts of those whom we serve.