Today's liturgy welcomes the feast of the birth of the forerunner, St. John the Baptist. In the Angelus of June 24, 2012, Benedict XVI said: "From the womb, John is the forerunner of Jesus: the angel announces to Mary his prodigious conception as a sign that 'nothing is impossible for God' (Lc 1, 37), six months before the great miracle that gives us salvation, the union of God with man through the work of the Holy Spirit".
"The four Gospels give great prominence to the figure of John the Baptist, as the prophet who concludes the Old Testament and inaugurates the New, identifying in Jesus of Nazareth the Messiah, the Consecrated One of the Lord", continued the Pope theologian.
"To commemorate the Baptist is to celebrate Christ".
Five years earlier, in 2007, already Pope, Benedict XVI had also said at the Angelus. "Today, June 24, the liturgy invites us to celebrate the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, whose life was totally oriented to Christ, like that of his mother, Mary. St. John the Baptist was the forerunner, the "voice" sent to announce the Word Incarnate."
"Therefore, to commemorate his birth means in reality to celebrate Christ, the fulfillment of the promises of all the prophets, among whom the greatest was the Baptist, called to "prepare the way" before the Messiah (cf. Mt 11, 9-10)".
Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan
Later, the then Pope added: "All the Gospels begin the narrative of the public life of Jesus with the account of his baptism in the Jordan River by St. John. St. Luke frames the Baptist's entry on the scene in a solemn historical setting. Also my book 'Jesus of Nazareth'. begins with the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, an event that had enormous resonance in his time".
You can consult the quoted 'Angelus' of Pope Benedict here and here.
Humility of St. John the Baptist
Not to mention more Popes, Fathers of the Church, or saints, it may be noted that Pope Francis also dedicated reflections to St. John the Baptist. For example, when on January 15, 2023, he asked himself "if we are capable of making room for others." "Once his mission is accomplished, John knows how to step aside, he withdraws from the scene to make room for Jesus," Francis noted. Earlier this year, on January 11, the late Pope referred to things that. we can learn of John the Baptist.
