A Light Before the Dawn

by the Bishop’s Pastoral Office

Each year, on 24 June, the Church pauses to celebrate something profoundly rare: the birth of a saint. While most saints are honoured on the day of their death—their birth into eternal life—John the Baptist is one of only three whose birth is celebrated liturgically: Jesus at Christmas, Mary on the 8 September, and John himself. This is because his birth is deeply connected with the mystery of the God made man.

In fact, the Church celebrates John’s birth precisely six months before Christmas, a detail drawn from the Gospel of Luke, which notes that Elizabeth was six months pregnant when Mary visited her. This careful symmetry is not just biblical bookkeeping—it also has theological and cosmic significance: as John’s birth heralds the light of Christ, so too does his feast mark the beginning of a cosmic turning-point.

24 June falls just after the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere—the longest day of the year. From this point forward, the days begin to shorten. It’s a quiet astronomical echo of John’s own words: “He [Christ] must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). For just as the birthday of St John the Baptist takes place on the date when the days begin to shorten, the birthday of Christ, the true light, takes place when they begin again to lengthen. From his miraculous conception to his bold preaching in the wilderness, John’s entire life was a signpost pointing to Christ. Even before he was born, John began his mission of proclamation by leaping in his mother Elizabeth’s womb at the presence of Mary and the unborn Christ.

Here in the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch, the connection is even more personal. St John the Baptist is the patron saint of the diocese, chosen to guide and inspire with his clarity of vision, his humility, and his fiery passion for truth. His voice, crying out in the wilderness, is not just a distant sound, but it continues to be made present in the Mass, calling for hearts to be turned toward Christ: “Behold the Lamb of God, behold who takes away the sins of the world” (cf. John 1:29).

Published in Inform Issue 145 - Winter 2025