1. Parents, by receiving Jesus in baptism and the Eucharist, constitute the way of Jesus for their children.

2. Parents, as Joseph and Mary did, should bring their infants - although unaware - to the church.

"When the days were completed... they took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord" Luke 2:22

3. Parents, being true Christians, should make Jesus the highest priority in their children's education and life.

"Son, why have you done this to us? You father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety" Luke 2:48-49

4. Jesus chose children to be part of his life and his church.

"Let the children come to me; do not hinder them; for such belongs the kingdom of God" Mark 10:14-16

5. In a Christ-like manner, children should participate by:

- sitting
- listening
- asking

"After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding" Luke 3:46-48

6. Children are a model of innocence, simplicity and beings in need of love: what a Christian should be before God.

"Unless you turn and become like children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven: Matthew 18:3

7. Children are the most beautiful manifestation of life. Their presence should be accepted with joy, in the awareness that a destiny of greatness is reserved for even the least of them.

"since of such is the kingdom of heaven" (cf. Mk. 10:14)

8. John the Baptist reminds us that: Life starts in the womb. Children are truly a gift from God: a gift that we should cherish, a gift that we must care for, a gift that we have to nourish and protect.

"When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb" Luke 1:41

9. It is important that all of us Christians to know and approach God with the childlike spirit of a good son.

"See what love the father has given us, that we should be called children of God"
1 John 3:2

 

John: a lamp that shines before the sun.

O Lord our God, on this day, the hills of Judea ring with joyful new of the marvelous and mystic birth. On this day Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth, announce the birth of a son in their old age. His name shall be John for "God is gracious: to his people. He is not the log-awaiting one, but he has come to announce the birth of the one whom prophets and apostles longed to see. On this day we sing out with the hills of Judea, and we are taken with the cry that resounds throughout the earth: "Make straight the way of the lord!" Make us worthy to join our voices in a single holy hymn of praises to the God head who, today, sends his messenger before him. Glory be to him, for ever. Amen.