Vigil of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist (June 23), 성 요한 세례자
탄생 대축일 전야
1st Reading: Jeremiah 1:4-10
The Lord calls Jeremiah
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[4] Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,
[5] "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
[6] Then I said, "Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only
a youth.” But the Lord said to me,
"Do not say, I am only a youth';
for to all to whom I send you you shall go,
and whatever I command you you shall speak.
[8] Be not afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you.
[9] Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said
to me,
"Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
[10] See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build up and to plant.”
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Commentary:
1:1-19. The book of Jeremiah is a collection of the prophet's oracles arranged
more by subject than in chronological order and interspersed with stories about
his life. The heading (vv. 1-3), as in most of the prophetical books, introduces the
prophet and tells when he lived. Then, as an introduction to the book, comes an
account of the call of Jeremiah (vv. 4-10) along with two visions that give a good
description of the man (vv. 11-12 and 13-19).
1:4-10. This account of the call of Jeremiah gives a very good idea of the myste-
rious nature of every divine call – a call from all eternity and involving no merit on
the part of the person called, in which God makes known to a soul the why and
wherefore of his or her life. No one comes into being by accident, for everything
that happens is part of God's providence (v. 5). God's action in creating a person
is described graphically – "formed” you in the womb – a word used to describe
what a potter does when he models something in clay. The Lord "knew” Jere-
miah – a reference to his choosing him for a specific mission (cf. Amos 3:2;
Rom 8:29); God has a plan for each person, and he endows each with talents
that equip him or her to put that plan into effect. The passage also talks of a
"consecration”, that is, the earmarking of a person or thing for the service of God.
God's plan for someone, made before the person is born, emerges in due course,
when he or she is old enough to take on the assignments that God has been pre-
paring him for. Glossing this passage, St John Chrysostom, has God say this:
"I am the one who knit you together in your mother's womb. Your life is not a
work of nature, nor the fruit of suffering. I am the origin and cause of all things:
you should obey and offer yourself to me,” and he adds: "It does not begin with
I consecrated you: first, I knew you; then I consecrated you. Thus is the original
choice shown, and after the original choice, the particular calling” (Fragmenta in
Ieremiam, 1).
When the mystery of a person's calling begins to be revealed, their initial reaction
can be one of fear, because they are very conscious of their limitations and feel
that they are not up to the tasks that the Lord entrusts them with. Jeremiah, for
xample, argues that he is too young (v. 6). We do not know how old he was at
the time, for the word he uses to describe his age (na'ar) is imprecise. He was
probably only an adolescent (cf. Gen 37:2; 1 Sam 2:18; 3:1-21). In responding
to a vocation, one needs to listen, above all, to God who calls, who never leaves
his chosen ones on their own, and who always gives them the wherewithal to
carry out the mission he is charging them with (vv. 7-8).
The Lord's symbolic gesture of putting out his hand to touch Jeremiah's mouth,
as if to fill it with divine words, is similar to other gestures found in accounts of
the calling of prophets (cf. Is 6:7; Ezek 2:8-3:3; Dan 10:16). It is to tell the man
not to be concerned: he can rest assured that God will give him the right words
to express himself. It is a promise similar to that made by Jesus to his disciples:
he assured them of the Holy Spirit's help when the time came for them to bear
witness to him (cf. Mt 10:19-20).
The assignment given to Jeremiah implies a heavy responsibility; he will need
fortitude if he is to carry it out (v. 10). It involves in the first place doing destruc-
tive things (plucking up, breaking down, destroying and overthrowing) and only
then come constructive roles (building and planning). St Gregory the Great will
apply the same idea to the attention that is called for in the pastoral care of the
faithful: "One cannot build up if what disturbs the foundation has not been des-
troyed. In other words, the sweet words of good preaching are sown in vain if
the thorns of self-love have not first been plucked from the hearts of listeners”
(Regular pastoralis, 3, 34).
2nd Reading: 1 Peter 1:8-12
Praise and Thanksgiving to God
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[8] Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you
believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. [9] As the outcome of
your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls. [10] The prophets who prophesied
of the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired about this salvation; [11]
they inquired what person or time was indicated by the Spirit of Christ within them
when predicting the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glory. [12] It was re-
vealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things which
have now been announced to you by those who preached the good news to you
through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
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Commentary:
3-12. This passage, a hymn of praise and gratitude to God, developing what is
proclaimed in v. 2, is more explicit about the action of each Person of the Blessed
Trinity: by making his choice of Christians, God the Father has destined us to a
marvellous heritage in heaven (vv. 3-5); to attain this we need to love and believe
in Jesus Christ our Lord (vv. 6-9); the Holy Spirit, who earlier proclaimed salvation
by the mouth of the Old Testament prophets, is now, through those who preach
the Gospel, announcing that salvation has arrived (vv. 10-12).
3. God brought about the work of Redemption "by his great mercy". For God,
who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we
were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ" (Eph 2:4-5).
And just as the work of Creation is a manifestation of God's omnipotence, so his
new Creation is an expression of his mercy (cf. "Summa Theologiae", II-II, q. 30,
a. 4; cf. note on 2 Cor 5:17).
"Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead": the resurrection of our
Lord marks the climax of his salvific work, for it assures men of their redemption
and their own resurrection. In its Easter liturgy the Church joyfully reminds of this:
"He is the true Lamb who took away the sins of the world. By dying he destroyed
our death; by rising he restored our life" ("Easter Preface", I).
10-12. These verses of thanksgiving (vv. 3-12) end with a reference to the role of
the Holy Spirit in salvation: he acted in the Old Testament through the prophets
by announcing salvation, and now, through preachers of the Gospel, he reveals
that it has come about.
The passage is a clear acknowledgment of the unity and continuity of the Old
and New Testaments: in the Old the sufferings and subsequent glorification of
Christ are proclaimed, in such a way that "what the prophets predicted as future
events," says St Thomas, "the Apostles preached as something which had come
true" ("Commentary on Eph" 2:4). "The economy of the Old Testament was deli-
berately orientated to prepare for and declare in prophecy the coming of Christ,
Redeemer of all men, and of the messianic Kingdom (cf. Lk 24:44; Jn 5:39;
1 Pet 1:10) [...]. God, the inspirer and author of the books of both Testaments,
in his wisdom has so brought it about that the New should be hidden in the Old
and that the Old should be made manifest in the New. For although Christ foun-
ded the New Covenant in his blood (cf. Lk 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25), still the books of
the Old Testament, all of them caught up into the Gospel message, attain and
show forth their full meaning in the New Testament (cf. Mt 5:17; Lk 24:27; Rom
16:25-26; 2 Cor 3:14-16) and in their turn, shed light on it and explain it" (Vatican
II, "Dei Verbum", 15-16).
These verses show the Holy Spirit's role as cause and guide of the evangelizing
activity of the Church. In the early days of the spread of Christianity, as des-
cribed in Acts, the action of the third Person of the Blessed Trinity was palpable.
12. The Greek word translated at the end of this verse as "look" contains the idea
of bending over carefully in order to get a better look. This metaphor, then, depicts
the angels in heaven contemplating with joy the mystery of salvation. St Francis
de Sales, referring to this passage, exclaims: "Now in this complacency we sa-
tiate our soul with delights in such a manner that we do not yet cease to desire
to be satiated [...]. The fruition of a thing which always contents never lessens,
but is renewed and flourishes incessantly; it is ever agreeable, ever desirable. The
perpetual contentment of heavenly lovers produces a desire perpetually content"
("Treatise on the Love of God", 5, 3).
Gospel Reading: Luke 1:5-17
The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
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[5] In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of
the division of Abijah; and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name
was Elizabeth. [6] And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the
commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. [7] But they had no child,
because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
[8] Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,
[9] according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to him by lot to enter the tem-
ple of Lord and burn incense. [10] And the whole multitude of the people were
praying outside at the hour of incense. [11] And there appeared to him an angel
of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. [12] And Zechariah
was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. [13] But the angel said to
him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth
will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. [14] And you will have joy
and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth; [15] for he will be great before the
Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy
spirit, even from his mother's womb. [16] And he will turn many of the sons of Israel
to the Lord their God, [17] and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah,
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom
of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."
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Commentary:
6. After referring to the noble ancestry of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the evangelist
now speaks of a higher type of nobility, the nobility of virtue: "Both were righteous
before God." "For not everyone who is righteous in men's eyes is righteous in
God's; men have one way of seeing and God another; men see externals but
God sees into the heart. It can happen that someone seems righteous because
his virtue is false and is practiced to win people's approval; but he is not virtuous
in God's sight if his righteousness is not born of simplicity of soul but is only
simulated in order to appear good.
"Perfect praise consists in being righteous before God, because only he can be
called perfect who is approved by Him who cannot be deceived" (St. Ambrose,
"Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam, in loc.").
In the last analysis what a Christian must be is righteous before God. St. Paul is
advocating this when he tells the Corinthians, "But with me it is a very small thing
that I should be judged by you or by any human court. It is the Lord who judges
me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord
comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose
the purposes of the heart. Then every man will receive his commendation from
God" (1 Corinthians 4:3ff). On the notion of the just or righteous man, see the
note on Matthew 1:19.
8. There were twenty-four groups or turns of priests to which functions were allo-
cated by the drawing of lots; the eighth group was that of the family of Abijah (cf.
1 Chronicles 24:7-19), to which Zechariah belonged.
9-10. Within the sacred precincts, in a walled-off area, stood the temple proper.
Rectangular in form, there was first a large area which was called "the Holy
Place", in which was located the altar of incense referred to in verse 9. Behind
this was the inner sanctum, called "the Holy of Holies", where the Ark of the
Covenant with the tablets of the Law used to be kept; only the high priest had
access to this, the most sacred part of the temple. The veil or great curtain of
the temple separated these two area from one another. The sacred building was
surrounded by a courtyard, called the courtyard of the priests and outside this,
at the front of the temple, was what was called the courtyard of the Israelites,
where the people stayed during the ceremony of incensing.
10. While the priest offered incense to God, the people in the courtyard joined
with him in spirit: even in the Old Testament every external act of worship was
meant to be accompanied by an interior disposition of self-offering to God.
With much more reason should there be this union between external and internal
worship in the liturgical rites of the New Covenant (cf. "Mediator Dei", 8), in the
liturgy of the Church. Besides, this consistency befits the nature of man, com-
prised as he is of body and soul.
11. Angels are pure spirits, that is, they have no body of any kind; therefore,
"they do not appear to men exactly as they are; rather, they manifest themselves
in forms which God gives them so that they can be seen by those to whom He
sends them" (St. John Damascene, "De Fide Orthodoxa," 2, 3).
In addition to adoring and serving God, angelic spirits act as God's messengers
and channels of His providence towards men; this explains why they appear so
often in salvation history and why Sacred Scripture refers to them in so many
passages (cf., e.g. Hebrews 1:14).
Christ's birth was such an important event that angels were given a very promi-
nent role in connection with it. Here, as at the Annunciation to Mary, the arch-
angel St. Gabriel is charged with delivering God's message.
"It is no accident that the angel makes his appearance in the temple, for this
announces the imminent coming of the true Priest and prepares the heavenly
sacrifice at which the angels will minister. Let it not be doubted, then, that the
angels will be present when Christ is immolated" (St. Ambrose, "Expositio Evan-
gelii Sec. Lucam, in loc.").
12. "No matter how righteous a man be, he cannot look at an angel without
feeling afraid; that is why Zechariah was alarmed: he could not but quake at the
presence of the angel; he could not take the brightness that surrounded him" (St.
John Chrysostom, "De Incomprehensibili Dei Natura"). The reason for this is not
so much the angels' superiority to man as the fact that the grandeur of God's
majesty shines out through the angel: "And the angel said to me, 'Write this:
Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' And he
said to me, 'These are true words of God.' Then I fell down at his feet to worship
him, but he said to me, 'You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you
and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God'" (Revelation
19:9-10).
13. Through the archangel God intervenes in an exceptional way in the married
life of Zechariah and Elizabeth; but the message he brings has much wider refe-
rence; it has significance for the whole world. Elizabeth is already quite old but
she is going to have a son who will be called John ("God is gracious") and he
will be the forerunner of the Messiah. This showed that "the fullness of time" (cf.
Galatians 4:4) was imminent, for which all righteous people of Israel had yearned
(cf. John 8:56; Hebrews 11:13).
"Your prayer is heard," St. Jerome comments, "that is to say, you are given more
than you asked for. You prayed for the salvation of the people, and you have been
given the Precursor" ("Expositio Evangelium Sec. Lucam, in loc."). Our Lord also
sometimes gives us more than we ask for: "There is a story about a beggar
meeting Alexander the Great and asking him for alms. Alexander stopped and
instructed that the man be given the government of five cities. The beggar, totally
confused and taken aback, explained, 'I didn't ask for that much.' And Alexander
replied, 'You asked like the man you are; I give like the man I am" (St. J. Escriva,
"Christ Is Passing By", 160). Since God responds so generously and gives us
more than we ask for, we should face up to difficulties and not be cowed by them.
14-17. The archangel St. Gabriel gives Zechariah three reasons why he should
rejoice over the birth of this child; first, because God will bestow exceptional holi-
ness on him (verse 15); second, because he will lead many to salvation (verse
16); and third, because his whole life, everything he does, will prepare the way
for the expected Messiah (verse 17).
In St. John the Baptist two prophecies of Malachi are fulfilled; in them we are told
that God will send a messenger ahead of Him to prepare the way for Him (Malachi
3:1; 4:5-6). John prepares the way for the first coming of the Messiah in the same
way as Elijah will prepare the way for His second coming (cf. St. Ambrose, "Expo-
sitio Evangelii Sec. Lucam, in loc."; St. Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on St.
Matthew", 17, 11, "in loc."). This is why Christ will say, "What did you go out to
see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it
is written, 'Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy
way before Thee'" (Luke 7:26-27).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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