(C.D. Stampley Enterprises, Charlotte, NC 2001). Used with permission.

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For highway construction workers

St. John the Baptist (1st century)

Feast days: June 24 and August 29

St. John’s patronage of highway construction workers is based on Isaiah’s prophecy concerning him, “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness: ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’”

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As in the case of {ln:Jesus} and Mary, the conception of John the Baptist was made known by the message of an angel. After many years of marriage his parents Zachary and Elizabeth were still childless. One day when it was Zachary’s turn to offer incense in the Temple in Jerusalem (Zachary was a priest), the archangel Gabriel appeared before him to announce that Elizabeth would bear a son and they should name the boy John. Foolishly Zachary doubted the angel’s word. For his unwillingness to believe he was struck dumb.

Six months later when Gabriel made his great Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary he passed along the news that her cousin Elizabeth, whom everyone had thought barren, was in her sixth month. Mary hurried off to En Kerem to see her cousin. The moment she greeted Elizabeth, the infant John leapt in his mother’s womb.

When Elizabeth gave birth there was dissension in the family what to name the boy. To settle the question, some of Zachary’s relatives brought him a writing tablet and a stylus and asked him what name his son should have. Zachary wrote, “His name is John.” At that moment his power of speech was restored.

We do not know if {ln:Jesus} and John knew each other growing up. Before Christ began his public ministry John left home and went into the desert around The Jordan River where he lived a penitential life dressed in a camel skin with a piece leather cord as a belt and eating only locusts and wild honey. Crowds from Judea, Jerusalem, and the region around The Jordan made the journey out to the wilderness to hear John call the people of Israel to do penance for their sins because as he warned them, “the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Those who repented John baptized in the river.

{ln:Jesus} began his public life by going to John and asking for baptism. John must have recognized his cousin as the Messiah because he said it was more appropriate for Christ to baptize him. But {ln:Jesus} insisted so John led him into the river. After the baptism of the Lord John heard a voice from Heaven say, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Pharisees and Sadducees came to The Jordan to ask John if he was the Messiah. He said he was not. When they pressed him who he was then he answered, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord.”

The next day John saw {ln:Jesus} passing nearby and declared to the crowd, “Behold the Lamb of God! Behold him who takes away the sins of the world!”

In preaching his gospel of repentance John denounced Herod Antipas. The king had violated Jewish law by marrying Herodias, who was his half-brother’s ex-wife and his niece besides. Herod held John is superstitious awe, but to please Herodias he had John arrested.

On Herod’s birthday Herodias instructed her 20-year-old daughter Salome to dance for the king. Full of wine and inflamed by lust for the young woman, Herod swore in front of all of his guests that as a reward he would give Salome anything she asked for, even if it was half his kingdom. Salome said she wanted on a dish the head of John the Baptist.

Salome’s request filled the king with anguish but he could not renege on his promise. He sent his executioner to John’s cell. When the man returned, he presented the Baptist’s head to Salome who gave it to her mother.

Christ himself spoke John’s eulogy. “What went ye out to the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what went you out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold they that are in costly apparel and live delicately are in the houses of kings. But what went you out to see? A prophet? Yea, I say to you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.’ For I say to you: Amongst those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist.”

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Prayer to the saints is a powerful thing.

Now, with Saints for Every Occasion, readers can quickly find help for any challenge they face – no matter how large or small. Author Thomas J. Craughwell profiles 101 patron saints from various continents, cultures and times – from saints who were contemporaries of Christ, to modern patrons like Padre Pio and Faustina Kowalska. Each saint lived heroically in difficult times and circumstances, providing powerful examples of how to turn almost any obstacle into a source of grace. Along with old favorites such as St. Anthony and St. Jude, Craughwell offers patrons for specifically modern concerns, including, for example, saints to watch over astronauts, internet users and environmental activists. Beautifully illustrated and entertainingly told, Saints for Every Occasion features 101 patron saints readers will seek out time and again.

“An excellent resource for home and classroom use.” – Publisher’s Weekly {/tabs}