June 24 – Midsummer Nativity

June 24 is when we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist. Halfway between the beginning of spring and the beginning of autumn. It is also 6 months since Christmas and in turn that means in 6 months Christmas will return. June 24 is also 3 months from the time that Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth (John’s mother) who was then 6 months with child and right after the Annunciation when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and she said yes to being the Mother of God.

This is the time of the year when daylight lasts the longest in the Northern Hemisphere. From now on daylight hours will begin to get shorter until Christmas time. And then we start all over again. Isn’t that amazing, as John the lamp that holds the light is born the light begins to decrease until Christmas time when Jesus the Light of the World is born and then the light increases again. Just as John is the lamp that holds the light so are we. When we are baptized we receive the light of Christ and we become the lamp that carries Jesus to all we meet.

In the past, a long, long, time ago, nighttime bonfires were lit in honor of St. John the Baptist. How can you celebrate this midsummer event? Do you have a fire pit, if you do you could have a bonfire and invite your friends over to celebrate. Or you could put luminarias out, don’t know what those are? They are paper bags with sand in the bottom and then a lit candle is placed in the sand, they can be put out to light the path to your door. If you don’t have a fire pit and do not want to fiddle with paper bags, sand and candles have a “bonfire” in your grill as you cook your evening meal and bless the fire with this prayer from “Take Me Home” published by Liturgical Press in 1991: “Oh God almighty, unfailing ray and source of light, sanctify this fire that we have kindled with joy at the birth of John, the herald of you Son, and grant that, after the darkness of this life, we may come to you, who are light eternal. Amen.”