People often wonder if their life has purpose or meaning. What are we here for? Does God want me to do something special? Is there more than just my ordinary everyday life? John the Baptist came into this world with the script of his life already written. As with many of the prophets, Isaiah speaks of his calling even as he was in his mother's womb. He was given various divine gifts to accomplish his prophetic mission. In Luke John's birth follows the pattern of prophetic births in the Old Testament: his parents are aged and his mother barren. But what is all that to God, for whom all things are possible? John came into the world for one thing only: to prepare the way of the Lord and to continually point the people towards Jesus.

Even though our own life is probably not so dramatic, every soul that enters the world has a purpose and a mission. Some have a very special and particular thing that God wants of them but most of us have a mission that is broader and more general. For most of us our mission is quiet but very important: to show kindness and mercy, to work for a just and peaceful world, to grow in our understanding of God, and to ease the burdens of others. We have something to give and something to receive; something to teach and something to learn. No one is unimportant unless they choose to be - we can all do beautiful things for God and for others.