The Nativity of John the Baptist

The Church celebrates 3 different births throughout the Liturgical Year (Mary, John the Baptist and Jesus), but only refers to 2 of them as a Nativity. The Church purposefully has the Nativity of John the Baptist fall just after the summer solstice because from that point on, the days grow shorter – representing what John the Baptist preached: “I must decrease, while he (Jesus) must increase.” In like manner, the Nativity of Jesus comes after the winter solstice, at which time the days grow longer or, more Light (the Light of Christ) is coming into the world. But the Nativity of John the Baptist is also a celebration of life in general and a call for each one of us to discern what God had in mind for each of us personally when he loved us into being.