As in the New Testament, so also in both Eastern and Western liturgical traditions the birth of John points forward to the birth of Jesus. Today is six months before Christmas Eve. John’s birth has its own striking details, among which is the restoration of the voice of his father Zechariah who heralds the coming the Savior in his prophetic “canticle” (Luke 1:68-79). This text has become a daily feature of liturgical prayer; in the Western tradition it has long been prayed in the main morning office of the Liturgy of the Hours and is commonly known as the “Benedictus.”
Before the canticle, however, Zechariah confirmed on a writing tablet the name to be given to his son. It was a surprise for the gathering of relatives who were celebrating the baby’s circumcision on the eighth day after his birth. “His name is John,” he wrote (Luke 1:63). It is a name that summarizes the canticle that follows: Yohanan in Hebrew means “God is merciful.”
I am therefore especially grateful to have been baptized with the English version (John) of this powerful prophetic name. I was named after my maternal grandfather, today’s great saint, and the Pope at that time (January 1963) who is now also a saint, John XXIII. This Pope’s own “prophetic gift” was the source of an epoch-defining event for the Church and the whole world — the Second Vatican Council — that has continued to steadily bear fruit throughout my life.
The image is a Byzantine icon of Saint John the Baptist along with the proper text of the Preface to today’s Eucharistic Prayer in the Roman Rite.
The name “John” remains for me a foundation for hope. “God is merciful,” indeed.
