FranciscanMedia.org | Sunday Soundbites | Nativity of St. John the Baptist

Sunday Soundbites

Sunday Soundbites is a weekly, 90-second radio homily based on the Sunday readings, written and read by Fr. Greg Friedman, O.F.M. Sunday Soundbites is also heard on Catholic radio stations around the country.

Program for Sunday, June 24, 2012
(Nativity of St. John the Baptist)

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Transcript

This is Franciscan Father Greg Friedman with the Sunday Soundbite for the Feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist.

A new baby in the family! A birth creates a lot of excitement among family, friends and neighbors. Today’s Gospel tells the story of a birth that attracted a lot of attention!

Saint Luke precedes the birth story of Jesus with an equally wondrous birth: that of John the Baptist. An angelic annunciation prepares the way, as the Angel Gabriel visits Zechariah to tell him that his wife Elizabeth is with child. The doubting father finds himself unable to speak, until the scene described in today’s Gospel. There, Zechariah confirms in writing that the newborn child will be called John. Zechariah’s tongue is loosed, and he begins to praise God, causing fear and marveling among all who hear the story.

Today’s feast honors John as a forerunner of Christ. John’s birth, announced by the angel, and greeted with acclaim and promise, parallels that of Jesus. The story of Zechariah’s miraculous recovery of speech, along with what we know about John’s career as a herald of the Messiah, reminds us that—in our own time—we’re called by the Church to what the late Pope John Paul II called a “new evangelization.” John’s role in the story of Christ affirms our own vocation as evangelizers.

I’m Father Greg Friedman with Sunday Soundbite for St. Anthony Messenger Press, on the web at FranciscanRadio.org.

Meet Father Greg Friedman

Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M., is creative director with the Media Production Team at Franciscan Media. He also hosts American Catholic Radio each week, and produces videos for www.AmericanCatholic.org, including the "Two-Minute Take." Father Greg wrote and directed Assisi Pilgrimage: Walking in Faith with Francis and Clare, which appeared on ABC-TV stations nationwide. He also produced the popular faith-formation series Catholic Update Video, used in parishes around the U.S. He currently serves as pastor of St. Francis Seraph Parish, located in the inner-city neighborhood of "Over-the-Rhine" in Cincinnati, Ohio. You can contact him at letters@franciscanradio.org.

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