Bishop Paul Bradley of the Diocese of Kalamazoo took to Twitter recently to discuss the celebration of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. The annual celebration occurs on June 24 as part of Religious Freedom Week.

"We celebrate the Birth of John the Baptist," Bradley said in the tweet. "His family asked the question all families ask: 'What will this Child be?' (Lk.1:57-66,80) He became the one who prepared the way for Jesus. Who have we become; who are we becoming? We too must make room for Jesus in our lives; in our world."

St. John the Baptist is highly revered within the Church for his pivotal role in preparing the path for the arrival of Jesus, a Learn Religions article said.

John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin and the son of Elizabeth and Zachariah, played a significant role in baptisms and preaching about forgiveness; an article by Angel Studios said. He is recognized as a prophet and tragically met his death by beheading prior to Jesus' crucifixion, Within the Catholic Church, the Nativity of John the Baptist holds a special place as one of the three birthdays celebrated, alongside the birthdays of Jesus and His mother, Mary.

"He's a tremendously towering figure in our Christian faith," Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York said in a June 24 message on The Good Newsroom. "Jesus Himself said, 'A greater man, born of woman, there never was than John the Baptist.' Hey, that's a pretty good compliment coming from the Son of God. So, we honor St. John the Baptist, he was the cousin of our Lord, he leapt in the womb. Remember when the blessed Virgin Mary visited his mother, and he was in her womb, and so happy was he to know that the Messiah, Jesus, our Savior, had come."

Other feast days during Religious Freedom Week—which runs annually June 22-29—include the feast of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher and the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, a recent United States Conference of Catholic Bishops release said.

"John the Baptist wanted to think like Jesus and see the world through his eyes, trying always to follow his example and teachings," Archbishop Jose Gomez of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said in a tweet. "Let's ask for the grace to follow his example, to try to imitate Christ and share the beauty of his life and teachings with the people around us."