The youngest witness to Christ

The Birth of John the Baptist is a grand celebration in the Catholic Church: a Solemnity. This is only fitting, because our Lord Himself said that “no man born of woman is greater than John the Baptist (yet the least born into the Kingdom of God is greater than he).”

But as we celebrate this feast of John the Baptist’s birth, we should remember that by the time he was born, he had already started his life’s work: giving witness to the coming of the Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

And it came to pass,
that, when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting,
the child leaped in her womb;
and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit:
And she spoke in a loud voice, and said,
“Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For, behold,
as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears,
the child leaped in my womb for joy.”Luke 1:41-44

Before he was even born, this tiny human being John was doing the work of God, giving witness to Jesus Christ