Gospel Reflection for The 24th day of June in the year of Our Lord, 2025
Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
Luke 1:57-66, 80
57 Now Elizabeth's full time of being delivered was come, and she brought forth a son. 58 And her neighbours and kinsfolks heard that the Lord had shewed his great mercy towards her, and they congratulated with her. 59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him by his father's name Zachary. 60 And his mother answering, said: Not so; but he shall be called John.
61 And they said to her: There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. 62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. 63 And demanding a writing table, he wrote, saying: John is his name. And they all wondered. 64 And immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. 65 And fear came upon all their neighbours; and all these things were noised abroad over all the hill country of Judea.
66 And all they that had heard them laid them up in their heart, saying: What an one, think ye, shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.
80 And the child grew, and was strengthened in spirit; and was in the deserts until the day of his manifestation to Israel.
So much of Saint John the Baptist’s life was intertwined with that of our Lord’s that it could be accurately said that his entire life was dictated by his discipleship… a discipleship that began when he lept in his mother’s womb in the presence of the unborn Jesus. Saint John was the messenger, the “voice crying in the wilderness.” He announced the Kingdom of God and the coming of the Messiah. Yet, his message was one of repentance. His baptism was a baptism of repentance. Wow, we could sure use a preacher like Saint John the Baptist today!
Consider another passage, briefly:
Brothers and sisters: You are God's building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.
God has made each living human being to be His Temple – He chose us just like Saint John, before we were ever born. God comes to dwell within our hearts in the Person of the Holy Spirit. Only through understanding this reality may we perceive who we are intended to be and how we should relate to others. Each person’s life and integrity should be defended with the same zeal that Jesus defended the Temple! This is why Catholics must never compromise on issues of abortion and euthanasia. A life may only be lawfully taken in defense of another’s life. We cannot compromise on sex trafficking, or any form of exploitation. We cannot accept the relativistic morals of modern society nor adopt political ideologies that reduce human beings to mere numbers or chattel. And, we must never allow children to be educated, or indoctrinated into such evil.
And, what are we to think of those who build upon God’s Church? When a priest tells me that Pope Francis would not excommunicate or even criticize pro-abortion politicians like Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi due to the large amounts of money they donate (or moneys that would be withheld due to their influence), what am I to think? When Catholic Charities facilitates human trafficking, drug trafficking, sex slavery and the rape of children on our southern border, what am I to think? When so many of our bishops seem hell-bent on normalizing sexual deviancy, what am I to think?
All I can do is trust the words of Jesus who guaranteed that evil would not prevail over His Church. That said, it is up to each of us to defend the temple that is the Church through the power of the Spirit of God that dwells within us. Prayer is our most potent weapon. But, it is no substitute for action and speaking boldly. We must demand reforms within the Church and that Catholic Charities be stripped of its Catholic affiliation and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I am also in favor of groups like Catholic for Catholics who are working toward such goals.
It will not be easy. We will face far more opposition from many of our priest and bishops than do liberal politicians. We may expect to be shunned by friends and family - Jesus promised we would if we keep His commandments. I believe fully though, that if enough second collections have more notes demanding the condemnation of Catholic Charities than donations, action will soon be taken to combat this evil, and if we stop donating to liberal Catholic universities they will soon stop promoting abortion, homosexuality and communism. We must drive the money changers from the temple… perhaps not ironically, we can do this with our dollars.
Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings July-December, 2025 It is Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5BHFZ7X
and
Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith. It is also Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK
His podcast is The Uncensored Catholic https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-uncensored-catholic