Dear Parishioners of Mary Immaculate and Saint Rose,
There are only three birthdays that we celebrate in the liturgical calendar. The first and most important is December 25th, when we celebrate the Nativity of Jesus. We celebrate this day with great joy and solemnity because we know Jesus was born into our world to save us from sin and death and to show us the great love that God has for us.
The others we observe are important because of their relationship with Jesus. The second birth we observe on September 8th. This is the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is the Mother of our Lord and Savior. Without her fiat Jesus would not have been born. It is her “yes” to God’s will that brought about the Incarnation of Jesus.
The third and final birth that has tremendous significance in our Salvation history is June 24th, which is the Nativity of John the Baptist. John is the final prophet to come before the Christ. It is interesting that he was the child of a miracle, as was Jesus. Jesus was born of the Virgin. John’s parents were elderly and barren. Zachariah and Elizabeth had given up on the idea of having a child, but they were faithful in their prayer and trust in God.
Similar to the birth of Jesus, the birth of John, and his name, were foretold by an angel. John was consecrated to God from before he was conceived. Even in the womb of Elizabeth, John was the first to recognize the presence of Jesus in the womb of Mary when Mary came to assist Elizabeth during the time of her pregnancy.  John leapt in the womb of Elizabeth. From this moment the unborn infant John was sanctified by the presence of the unborn Christ. John was born in innocence in order to prepare the way of the sinless Savior.
Zachariah and Elizabeth lived in a small village near Jerusalem. Today that village is known as Ein Karem. There is a place there that commemorates the place where the infant John was hidden during the martyrdom of the Holy Innocents. John lived most of his life in the desert. He spent that time alone with God. When he began his public ministry, he preached repentance as the means to prepare the way of the Lord.
John performed a ceremonial cleansing from sin. This was a baptism of repentance. John reluctantly, because he considered himself unworthy, baptized Jesus. Jesus sanctified the waters of baptism and made them the means not only for the forgiveness of sin but also to bestow the new life of grace.
John will soon be martyred by Herod, by a deceitful means. The wife of Herod arranged the beheading of John the Baptist. We also celebrate this event, on August 29. Thus we celebrate both the birth of John the Baptist into this world and his birth into the Heavenly Kingdom.
Saint John the Baptist. . .Pray for us!     

Msgr. Cox

Baptism of Christ, Da Vinci/Verrocchio (1475)