Wednesday, December 23, 2026 — Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Advent
The birth of John the Baptist
Luke 1:57-66
Readings of the day: Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24; Psalm 25:4-5ab, 8-9, 10 and 14; Luke 1:57-66.
The Gospel
When the time comes for Elizabeth to give birth, she bears a son, and her neighbors and relatives rejoice with her at the great mercy the Lord has shown. On the eighth day they come to circumcise the child and want to call him Zechariah, after his father, but Elizabeth says: “No. He will be called John.” They ask his father by signs, and Zechariah writes on a tablet, “John is his name.” At once his mouth is opened, his tongue freed, and he speaks blessing God. Fear comes upon all the neighbors, and all ask: “What, then, will this child be? For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.”
Reflection
A name is given from heaven, not from the family tree, and the neighbors are right to ask what this child will be. “The name John is also interpreted the grace of God,” says St. Chrysostom, “because then by the favour of Divine grace, not by nature, Elisabeth conceived this son.” Zechariah’s silence ends the moment his faith obeys: “that which unbelief had bound, faith set free,” says St. Ambrose. The neighbors keep the question in their hearts, and so should we: when God gives a name to something in our lives, the wise answer is to receive it, speak it, and let praise open our mouths.
From the Fathers
“Rightly also, from that moment was his tongue loosed, for that which unbelief had bound, faith set free.”
— St. Ambrose, Exposition on Luke, in the Catena Aurea on Luke 1:59–64
“But the name John is also interpreted the grace of God. Because then by the favour of Divine grace, not by nature, Elisabeth conceived this son, they engraved the memory of the benefit on the name of the child.”
— St. John Chrysostom, Homily 39 on Genesis, in the Catena Aurea on Luke 1:59–64
Saint of the day
Saint John of Kanty (1390–1473), also called John Cantius, a Polish priest and professor of Sacred Scripture at the University of Kraków. He served for a time as a parish priest, then returned to the university, where he was known for his piety, his humility, and his generous love for the poor, especially needy students. He died on Christmas Eve in 1473 and was canonized in 1767; his feast is kept on December 23, the day before the anniversary of his death.
Get the Gospel by email — free
Sources: the day’s readings follow the daily lectionary (USCCB, Lectionary 199). The Gospel text is not reproduced here; read it at the link above. Patristic quotes: Catena Aurea on Luke 1:57–66, compiled by St. Thomas Aquinas, translated by John Henry Newman (1841, public domain).