Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist
Today is the Memorial of the Passion of St John the Baptist. Throughout John’s life we find him choosing good and turning away from evil, indeed calling every person, ourselves included, to repent and seek the Kingdom of God. The story of his martyrdom presented to us in the Gospel reveals a cast of characters doing just the opposite by their participation in evil. The passion of John foreshadows the passion of Christ, the One to whom John directs each of us. Today let us ask God for the grace to choose good and turn away from evil; may we seek, like John the Baptist, to decrease in order that Christ might increase in us (John 3:30).
Our Gospel today presents quite the cast of characters. In Herod we should notice the snowball effect of unchecked sin. Herod progressed from adultery to dissipation and ultimately through his recklessness to murder. Herod’s cowardice and excessive concern for his reputation led him to order the shedding of innocent blood. Every player in this drama is complicit in the evil: Herod’s scheming wife, her lascivious daughter, the executioner, and even Herod’s party guests, who do nothing to protest or intervene in John’s death. Similarly, all the participants in the passion of Jesus, and by extension, all of us, sinful humanity, are complicit in Jesus’ death. John and Jesus both are put to death because they confronted people with hard but necessary truth about God’s claim on their lives and our need for repentance.1 We might do well to ask ourselves, am I humble and receptive to God’s truth? Are there areas of my life in which I resist hearing and receiving God’s truth?
Pope Francis, in a homily preached on February 8, 2019, observed, “Satan is behind all these characters. He sows hatred in the woman, vanity in the young woman and corruption in the king.” He continued, John, “the greatest man born of a woman died alone in a cell because of the whim of a vain dancer, the hatred of a diabolical woman and the corruption of an indecisive king. The Baptist dies a martyr. Not a martyr of the faith, because he was not asked to renounce it. He is a martyr of truth. He was, in fact, a ‘righteous and holy man’ (Mk 6:20) who was put to death because he spoke freely and was faithful to his calling. He is a martyr who allowed himself to diminish so as to leave his place to the Messiah. Those who are great end up like this!” Pope Francis also made this startling point as he reflected on Herodias and her hatred for John, “hatred is a great power. Hatred is the breath of Satan.” Hatred is the breath of Satan . . . God intends that you and I, people created in love, in the image and likeness of God, might breathe the very breath of God, the Holy Spirit. Let us pause and ask ourselves honestly if we harbor any hatred in our hearts toward other people. In any of our relationships or attitudes toward others, are we breathing out the foul, putrid breath of the enemy of our souls?
St Mark, in his Gospel, refers to John as a “righteous and holy man.” Jesus himself said of John, “among those born of women none is greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 7:28). Pope Francis refers to St John the Baptist as a “martyr of truth.” You and I are called to be righteous, holy, people of truth, (perhaps even to the point of martyrdom for the truth if that is God’s will). Jesus tells us, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32). Seeking and speaking the truth, implies that the free and truthful Christ follower seeks to live a life of virtue.
Our Church teaches us, “A virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions” (CCC, 1803). Today, let us ask God for the helps we need to pursue the good with our entire being and to turn away from evil. May we never be like the cast of characters in Herod’s drama, but rather may we follow Christ with a sincere and fervent love, serving our neighbor in true charity. St John the Baptist, pray for us!
In the Body and Blood of Christ, Elizabeth Wells
1 Summary from Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Gospel of Mark, pg 121.