{"id":142872,"date":"2026-06-24T05:00:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T09:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/?p=142872"},"modified":"2026-03-24T11:26:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T15:26:16","slug":"the-birth-of-john-the-baptist-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/the-birth-of-john-the-baptist-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Birth of John the Baptist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Biff,<\/span> How propitious that you are entering seminary on the Solemnity of the Birth of St John the Baptist! \u00a0I detect the hand of Providence in the unanticipated delay. Why? Simple reason. You know how hard it is to be a faithful priest and religious in today\u2019s world, so aggressively anti-Christian. \u00a0Therefore, you will need something to keep you on track, not only during your years of formation and preparation, but also after you are ordained and serving the Church full time with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength. \u00a0In today\u2019s feast, you can find that something, a motto, a theme, if you will, for your life of loving service to the glory of God and the salvation of souls. I refer to the haunting summary of the life of St John the Baptist, which he himself gives us in the Gospel of John. \u00a0<\/span> Maybe you remember the scene. \u00a0John\u2019s disciples (of whom there were many) come to him complaining about the growing number of followers of Jesus; it appears that they are a bit envious. \u00a0John patiently explains to them that that is exactly what is supposed to happen. He was only the precursor, the messenger sent to get people ready to welcome Christ the Lord, to introduce everyone to the Messiah, so that the Messiah could then enter into their hearts and transform their lives. \u00a0So he sums up his mission with the following phrase: \u201cHe [Jesus] must increase; I must decrease.\u201d Does that not summarize the life-mission of every baptized Christian, and even more so the life of a priest? If you keep that phrase in your heart, meditate on it, mull it around over and over again, and try to live its inspired truth, I guarantee you will discover the \u201cpearl of great price\u201d that will fill your privileged vocation with radiant joy and fathomless meaning.<\/span> You can be sure that I will be praying for you in a special way as you start up the narrow path to the priesthood, and I will ask St John the Baptist to take you under his spiritual care, since you are making that start on his day.<\/span> Your devoted Uncle Eddy<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Biff, How propitious that you are entering seminary on the Solemnity of the Birth of St John the Baptist! \u00a0I detect the hand of Providence in the unanticipated delay. 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He was ordained a Catholic priest in 2003 and earned his doctorate in moral theology in 2010. He provided spiritual support on the set of Mel Gibson\u2019s\u00a0The Passion of the Christ\u00a0while researching the 2005 Catholic best seller,\u00a0Inside the Passion, the only authorized, behind-the-scenes explanation of the film. Fr. John has contributed news commentary regarding religious issues on NBC, CNN, Fox, and the BBC. He also served as the English-language press liaison for the Vatican\u2019s 2005 Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist. His most widely known books are The Better Part: A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer and 60 Days to Becoming a Missionary Disciple. His most recent book is\u00a0Spiritual But Not Religious: The Search for Meaning in a Material World. Fr. John resides in Atlanta and serves as Territorial Vicar for the Legionaries of Christ. See all books, Regnum Christi Essays, Retreat Guides, posts, and online classes from Fr. John Bartunek, LC.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/jbartunek\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/359"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142872"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=142872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}