The Passion of Saint John the Baptist
Jeremiah 1:17-19 | Psalm 70:1-6,15,17 | Mark 6:17-29
St. John the Baptist publicly declaimed a bigamous queen…and had his head cut off in today’s Gospel.
An eye surgeon at the National Eye Centre crudely described a laser procedure as “drilling two holes in your eyes”, which frightened my wife’s friend so much that she elected to have a private doctor work on her instead, one who cost quite a bit more but had substantially better EQ (emotional quotient).
A decorated Olympic swimmer lied about an embarrassing incident in a foreign country, and became the shame of his nation when details on what really happened finally emerged. (As of this writing, he still steadfastly refuses to make a proper apology.)
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It’s clear that words have power, and words of Truth doubly so. Herod knew that he had sinned in marrying his brother’s wife, yet he recognized and respected the Truth that St. John the Baptist proclaimed, and protected him from Herodias’ wrath until a careless promise (those pesky words again) forced his executioner’s hand. Similarly, God assured the prophet Jeremiah in today’s reading that he would be safeguarded against all harm from earthly authority, as long as he faithfully proclaimed His Truth.
Sadly, we generally have to phrase the Truth a bit more delicately in modern times. For instance, the Church’s stand on abortion can be a particularly sore point even in casual discussion, and trying to engage the “my body, my rules” crowd often ends with much heat and a deeply-divided room.
It’s also possible to be wrong when sharing God’s Word. I keep reminding myself of this each night when I add to this blog, and I keep hoping that someone will eventually sound off with “you’re wrong, scripture / CCC / tradition actually says ABC about XYZ”. Few things would give me more pleasure than a Truth-based mea culpa; I don’t get to say “I got schooled” enough these days.
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I’ve had many ecclesial discussions with my old atheist buddy over the years. While I can never quite remember what was said on either side (though I’m quite sure we haven’t touched on abortions yet), I’m thankful that it keeps me jogging along on the Way of Truth. His incisive ripostes also force me to stop, reconsider my long-held “truths” that might not be so, and choose my words with great care, as we all should when imparting the Truth to others.
It also helps that he seems to be taking our discussions seriously, so I may yet persuade him to cross over to the “light side”. Finally, neither of us cross the line into pro-/anti-Christian polemics, which I think is most important in evangelisation.
After all, regardless of which side of the religious divide we happen to inhabit, it doesn’t pay to lose our heads over it.