Until the day of his manifestation to Israel.

“The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.” (LK 1: 80)

This is not only the vocation of St. John the Baptist, whose solemnity of the nativity we are celebrating. This is also about every God’s child: “grow and become strong in spirit… until the day of manifestation to Israel.” We are called to be love and to express our love to others. We need an extraordinary environment to learn this—our families, seeing the love of our parents, learning from them how to be a free, creative, and joyful gift of self. Our parents prepared the way to meet Our Lord, and we are preparing the way to Him for our children, and one day they will do the same for others.

“You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.” (Gospel Acclamation)