HARRISBURG, PA (Catholic Online) - The priest Zechariah's prophecy at the birth of John the Baptist is mystical . Our Lord said that he had no equal. But, in another way, what was said of John can be said of each of us. John was endowed with all his potential before he was born.

Notice in the first reading today that the prophet was given his mission before he was born. At the visitation, John recognized Jesus when they were both in their mothers' wombs!

What does this tell us about us? That everything we will ever be - all our powers - powers to reason, to learn, to experience, to love - everything we  are or ever will be - we were at the first moment of our existence.

There are no accidental babies and no throw away people. Our lives are not meaningless accidents. Everything you are today you were at the first moment of your conception. John was destined from his conception to be our Lord's forerunner.

He was endowed with everything he needed: his soul, his intellect, his ability to experience, at his conception. It only remained for him to cooperate with God in fulfilling that destiny.

The same is true for us. We are given everything we need to fulfill God's plan for our lives at our conception. But it falls to us, as we grow, to respond to God's love and cooperate with His will, to fulfill his plan for our lives.

John the Baptist was never anything, or anyone, other than who he was, from his first moment of existence. You were and ever will be, who you are, from your first moment of existence, till you reach eternal life.

When you face tough times, you may be tempted to say, "My life counts for little". But that is not what God says about your life. If that were so, He would never had gone to the trouble to bring you into being. Each and every person is created in God's image and likeness.

There is only one God. So every person is utterly unique, unrepeatable and irreplaceable. You are one of a kind - from your super microscopic DNA, your genome, your fingerprints, to your everlasting soul. There is not, never has been, or ever will be, someone just like you!

John was made who he is and given his destiny at the moment of his conception. So were you. If you cooperate with your creator, you will become all you were made to be!

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Fr. Paul Schenck, a Priest of the Diocese of Harrisburg, PA., is the founding Director of the National Pro-Life Center (NPLC) on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The Center gives the Justices of the Supreme Court, their high level staff, members of the federal judiciary, members of the US Senate and other public policy makers the information, education and inspiration they need to better form their consciences so they will make better decisions. He is a Champion of the Pro-Life movement and a contributing writer for Catholic online.