The three births that we celebrate in our Church’s liturgical calendar are the
Birth of Jesus at Christmas, the Nativity of Mary on September 8, and today’s
celebration of the Nativity of John the Baptist. We honor John the Baptist today because he marks a turning point in the history
of our salvation. John is the last and the greatest of the prophets of Ancient Israel. He was the first to proclaim Jesus to the world as he announced his coming as
our Savior and Redeemer. John announces Jesus to us as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the
world, words that we proclaim each time we gather around the Table of the Lord
for the Holy Eucharist.
As we honor John the Baptist today, we recognize the importance of religious
freedom in our country. John proclaimed God’s word against the backdrop of a powerful Roman
empire. Herod feared John the Baptist and his message so much so that John was
ultimately imprisoned and beheaded for living out his faith according to God’s
will. Herod did not want to hear the truth in the words of John the Baptist. As we have seen our religious freedom under attack in our own country these
past few years, perhaps the honesty, diligence, and fortitude by which John the
Baptist lived out his faith is a good example for all of us to reflect upon.
In a document that was issued in April 2012, the Bishops called religious
freedom “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty.” Religious liberty was important to the founding fathers of our country; it was
the topic of the first amendment to the US Constitution. In many ways, religious liberty is at the foundation of all the liberties we
enjoy in our country. If we are not free to form and follow our conscience in our religious faith and
to choose the way we live out our faith, then how will we be able to live in
freedom in any sense of that word? When our government asks us to do something that is against God’s holy
teachings, then the American tradition of liberty is being trampled upon and
destroyed. Pope Francis has declared: “Religious freedom is not only that of private
thought or worship. It is the liberty to live, both privately and publicly,
according
to the ethical principles resulting from found truth.” Our religious freedom is not something that we are inventing for ourselves. It is not something that the government itself can bestow upon us or take away
at its whim. Religious liberty is a grace we receive from God, a gift we receive from him. Our country was founded on this concept of
religious freedom; it is something we as American Catholics insist upon. Just as John the Baptist asserted his
rights in ancient Israel, we assert our rights as believers and followers of
Christ.
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