August 29, 2025
Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist
Lectionary: 429/634
Reading 1
Brothers and sisters,
we earnestly ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that,
as you received from us
how you should conduct yourselves to please God–
and as you are conducting yourselves–
you do so even more.
For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
This is the will of God, your holiness:
that you refrain from immorality,
that each of you know how to acquire a wife for himself
in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion
as do the Gentiles who do not know God;
not to take advantage of or exploit a brother or sister in this matter,
for the Lord is an avenger in all these things,
as we told you before and solemnly affirmed.
For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness.
Therefore, whoever disregards this,
disregards not a human being but God,
who also gives his Holy Spirit to you.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm
97:1 and 2b, 5-6, 10, 11-12
R. (12a) Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice;
let the many isles be glad.
Justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the LORD of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his justice,
and all peoples see his glory.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The LORD loves those who hate evil;
he guards the lives of his faithful ones;
from the hand of the wicked he delivers them.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
Light dawns for the just;
and gladness, for the upright of heart.
Be glad in the LORD, you just,
and give thanks to his holy name.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Herod was the one who had John the Baptist arrested and
bound in prison
on account of Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
John had said to Herod,
“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.
She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,
gave a banquet for his courtiers,
his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee.
Herodias’ own daughter came in
and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests.
The king said to the girl,
“Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.”
He even swore many things to her,
“I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
even to half of my kingdom.”
She went out and said to her mother,
“What shall I ask for?”
She replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”
The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request,
“I want you to give me at once
on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was deeply distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.
So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders
to bring back his head.
He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl.
The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082925.cfm
Commentary on 1
Thessalonians 4:1-8
The latter part of Paul’s letters usually includes some
practical exhortations to the particular church to which he is writing. Here,
he tells the Thessalonians that to conserve their holiness they are to recall
what the apostle taught them in the name of Christ at the time of their
conversion.
Specifically, all forms of sexual misconduct are to be
avoided, in consideration of the truth that God sanctifies his faithful by the
presence of the Holy Spirit in them. He begins by making his appeal and
exhortation in the name of the Lord:
…we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus…
He does not talk to them arrogantly, but does speak with
authority in the Lord Jesus.
When he was with them he had instructed them on how to live
in ways that please God and he is happy that they are so doing, but he urges
them to make even more progress in the way of the Lord. Paul uses this
metaphor often of the Christian way. It points to steady progress in a
forward direction. They are well aware of the instructions Paul and his
companions gave on the authority of the Lord Jesus.
The word ‘instructions’ is used of authoritative commands
and has a military ring. God wants all of the Thessalonians to be holy.
‘Holiness’, as we saw yesterday, means ‘set apart’ (Greek, hagios),
being different from other people who live according to different
standards. It is identifying with God’s will, which comes to us through
Christ and makes us holy. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in us.
But taking the English root, ‘holiness’ is related to ‘wholeness’. The
‘holy’ person is a ‘whole’ person, in which every part speaks of unity and
harmony with God, with those around one, with the environment and with oneself.
Paul then spells out a particular area of being holy with
which he is concerned. He exhorts the Christians to sexual integrity and
self-restraint. The implication is that, from what Timothy has told him,
there are some problems in this area. Therefore, he wants them to keep
away from all sexual immorality and each of them to guard their body in a way
which is holy and honourable. This can refer either to a man’s own body
or that of his wife, as in several rabbinic texts. For a married man to
have sex with another person is to violate his wife. Paul’s doctrine on moral
behaviour, which is based on the earliest Christian teaching, invests ordinary
day-to-day life with a new depth: it has the seal of Christ on it.
In the first century AD moral standards were generally very
low, and chastity was regarded as an unreasonable restriction, especially by
men (but under the same standards of the time, married women were expected to
remain faithful to their husbands; unmarried women to be virgins before
marriage). Paul, however, would not compromise on God’s clear and demanding
standards. They are not to give way to:
…lustful passion, like the ‘gentiles who do not know
God’…
The warning was needed, for Christians clearly were not
immune to temptation in a hedonistic environment.
Unrestricted sexual activity is to use others for one’s
pleasure and totally in conflict with the commandment to love others and to
respect their dignity and personal integrity. It is to degrade the
dignity of one’s own body and that of others. So Paul says that no one should
ever sin by taking advantage of a brother or sister in such matters, because
the Lord always “pays back” sins of that kind, as Paul had emphatically stated
in the past.
Sexual sin harms others besides those who engage in
it. For example, in adultery, the spouse is always wronged. The
Lord’s ‘vengeance’ is in the price that one pays for betraying one’s own
integrity and the dignity of the other person. God punishes such
behaviour insofar as it carries its own punishment. Such behaviour can
never bring happiness and, at its worst, can result in debauchery, injury,
disease, and death. This is so evident in the rampant spread of sexually
transmitted diseases.
On the contrary, God has called all to be holy and not
immoral. And anyone who rejects this teaching is rejecting not human authority,
but God who gives us his Holy Spirit.
The prophet Ezekiel foretold that the Spirit would be given
to the messianic people. This reference draws attention to the continuity
between the church of Thessalonica and the giving of this gift to the early
Christian community on the day of Pentecost.
And here is still another reason for chastity: sexual sin is
against God, who gives the Holy Spirit to believers for their
sanctification. It is a kind of sacrilege where not only the object of
sexual desire, but the Spirit within that person is violated.
We live in a world rampant with sexual licence and it is
easy to be affected by it. Love and affection and some form of expressing
our sexuality are important in everyone’s life, but it must never be done at
the expense of one’s own integrity or the integrity of another person. We do
not make our human values; we recognise and acknowledge them as coming from a
source beyond ourselves.
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Commentary on Mark
6:17-29
The story told in today’s Gospel comes from Mark. Not
altogether coincidentally, it is sandwiched between Jesus’ sending his
disciples out on a mission to do the same work he was doing, and their coming
back full of enthusiasm for what they had been doing. As Jesus would tell them,
the day would come when they, too, would be ‘handed over’:
Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils
and flog you in their synagogues… (Matt 10:17)
After he had sent them out, Mark tells us that King Herod
was getting reports of the wonderful things that Jesus was doing—healing the
sick, liberating people from evil powers, even bringing people back to life.
Herod, however, thought it must have been John the Baptist come back to life
with new powers who was responsible. Some people thought that Jesus was really
Elijah, who was expected to return to earth on the eve of the Messiah’s coming.
Others were saying that Jesus was just another prophet. However, Herod was
convinced that Jesus was John come back to life:
But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I
beheaded, has been raised”. (Mark 6:16)
It was clear that his killing of John the Baptist was a
source of great disquiet to him.
It is then that Mark relates how this killing took place and
it is the reading for us today. John the Baptist had been put in prison by
Herod because John had criticised the king for marrying his brother’s wife,
Herodias. This was a clear act of adultery and condemned by the Law of Moses.
John had said:
It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.
Herodias was deeply resentful of John for this and wanted to
get rid of him. Herod, however, respected John as a good and holy man and would
do no more than keep him in prison. Although John was critical of Herod’s
behaviour, the king could not resist listening to him speak.
Then, one day, Herodias saw her chance. On his birthday
Herod threw a large party for his courtiers, his military officers and leading
citizens of Galilee. During the meal, Herodias’ daughter came in and danced
(while she is not named, by tradition she is called Salome). The king and all
his guests were completely won over by her performance. The king, undoubtedly
having had a few tankards of wine too much, promised to give the girl anything
she wanted, even if it were half of his kingdom.
Excitedly, the girl went to her mother. “What should I ask
for?” She may have been somewhat disappointed or perhaps bemused when her
mother suggested: “The head of John the Baptist.” However, she went straight
back to the king and said:
I want you to give me at once the head of John the
Baptist on a platter.
Herod was horrified, but he had made his oaths and could not
lose face in front of his guests. An executioner was sent to decapitate John
and bring the head back to the assembly. The head was then given by the
executioner to the girl, who in turn handed it over to her vindictive
mother. Later, John’s disciples took his body and buried it.
John is often called the Precursor, literally, the ‘one who
runs in front of’. While John prepared the way for the coming of Jesus, he was
really a man of the Old Testament—the last of the Old Testament prophets. Jesus
would say that even the least in the Kingdom of God inaugurated by Jesus would
be greater than John.
In fact, John first appears in Mark’s Gospel just at the
beginning of Jesus’ public life. As Jesus began his mission to proclaim the
Kingdom, John had already been arrested and had left the public scene. But John
was a precursor, not only in the sense of preparing people for the coming of
Jesus, but also because he was a man of complete integrity, ready to give his
life for truth and justice. Hence, he was the first of those who would be
‘handed over’ (Latin, tradere) and who would be ready to die for
his God. In this, he prepared the way for Jesus and those of his followers who
would be handed over and give their lives. And of this we are the
beneficiaries. Each one of us, too, needs to be ready to hand over our lives for
the work of the Kingdom.
John the Baptist had to stand up to a king and his wife who
thought they could take God’s law into their own hands. John may have died, but
he won the moral victory, and for that we still recognise and honour him today.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/f0829g/
Friday,
August 29, 2025
The Passion
of Saint John the Baptist
Opening Prayer
Father, help us to seek the values that
will bring us enduring joy in this changing world.
In our desire for what You promise make
us one in mind and heart. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
Gospel Reading - Mark 6: 17-29
Herod was the
one who had John the Baptist arrested and bound in prison on account of
Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married. John had said to
Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." Herodias
harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in
custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to
listen to him. She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday, gave
a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers, and the leading men of
Galilee. Herodias' own daughter came in and performed a dance that delighted
Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask of me whatever you
wish and I will grant it to you." He even swore many things to her,
"I will grant you whatever you ask of me, even to half of my
kingdom." She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask
for?" She replied, "The head of John the Baptist." The girl
hurried back to the king's presence and made her request, "I want you to
give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist." The king was
deeply distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests he did not wish to
break his word to her. So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders to
bring back his head. He went off and beheaded him in the prison. He brought in
the head on a platter and gave it to the girl. The girl in turn gave it to her
mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid
it in a tomb.
Reflection
Today we commemorate the martyrdom of Saint
John the Baptist. The Gospel gives a description of how John the Baptist was
killed, without due process, during a banquet, a victim of the corruption and
arrogance of Herod and his court.
•
Mark 6: 17-20. The cause of the imprisonment and
the beheading of John. Herod was an employee of the Roman Empire, who ruled in
Palestine beginning in the year 63 BC. Caesar was the Emperor of Rome. He
insisted above all in an efficient administration which would provide revenue
for the Empire and for him. Herod’s
concern was his own advancement and his security. This is why he suppressed any
type of corruption. He liked to be called the benefactor of the people, but in
reality he was a tyrant (cf. Lk 22: 25). Flavius Josephus, a writer of that
time, claims that the reason for the imprisonment of John the Baptist was the
fear that Herod had of a popular uprising or revolt. John the Baptist’s
denunciation of the depraved morality of Herod (Mk 6: 18) was “the straw that
broke the camel’s back,” and John was imprisoned.
•
Mark 6: 21-29: The plot of the murderer. The
anniversary and banquet of the feast, with dancing and orgy, were the occasion
for the beheading of John. It was an environment in which the powerful of the
kingdom met together and in which alliances were formed. “The great of the
court,” two officials and two important people from Galilee, participated in
the feast. This was the environment in which the beheading of John the Baptist
was decided. John, the prophet, was a living denunciation of that corrupt
system, and this is why he was eliminated under the pretext of a personal
obligation. All this reveals the moral weakness of Herod. So much power had
accumulated in the hands of one man who had no self-control. In the enthusiasm
of the feast, of the celebration and of wine, Herod makes a promise by oath to
a young girl, a dancer. Superstitious as he was, he thought that he had to keep
the promise. For Herod, the lives of his subjects were worthless. Mark gives an
account of how the beheading happened and leaves the communities the task of
drawing the conclusion.
Between the lines, the Gospel today gives much information
on the time in which Jesus lived and on the way in which power was exercised by
the powerful of that time. Galilee, the land of Jesus, was governed by Herod
Antipas, the son of King Herod, the Great, from the year 4 BC until the year 39
AD - 43 years! During the whole time of Jesus’ life on earth there was no
change of government in Galilee! Herod was absolute lord of everything and did
not render an account to anyone. He did as he pleased. In him there was
arrogance, lack of ethics, absolute power, without any control on the part of
the people!
Herod constructed a new capital, called Tiberiades.
Seffori, the ancient capital, was destroyed by the Romans in retaliation for a
popular revolt. This happened when Jesus was about seven years old. Tiberiades,
the new capital, was inaugurated thirteen years later, when Jesus was
approximately 20 years old. The capital was given that name in order to please
Tiberius, the Emperor of Rome. Tiberiades was a strange place in Galilee. That
was the place where the king, “the great of the court,” the officials, the
important people of Galilee lived (Mk 6: 21). The landowners, the soldiers, the
policemen lived there and also the judges, who were often insensitive and
indifferent (Lk 18: 1-4). The taxes and tributes and the products of the people
were channeled there. It was there that Herod held his orgies of death (Mk 6
:21-29). The Gospel does not say that Jesus entered the city.
During the 43 years of the government of Herod, a class of
officials, faithful to the plans of the king, was created: the scribes, the
merchants, the landowners, the tax collectors on the market, the tax collectors
or publicans, the militia, policemen, judges, promoters, local heads. The
majority of these people lived in the capital and enjoyed the privileges which
Herod offered, for example, exemption from taxes. Others lived in the villages.
In every village or city there was a group of people who supported the
government. Several scribes and Pharisees were bound to the system and to the
politics of the government. In the Gospels, the Pharisees appear together with
the Herodians (Mk 3: 6; 8: 15; 12: 13), and this shows the existing alliance
between the religious and the civil powers. The life of the people in the
villages of Galilee was very controlled, both by the government and by
religion. It took much courage to begin something new, as John and Jesus did!
It was the same thing as attracting to oneself the anger of the privileged
ones, both those of the religious power as those of the civil power, both at
local and state levels.
Personal Questions
•
Do you know any people who died as victims of
corruption and the dominion of the powerful? And here, among us, in our
community and in the Church, are there some victims of authoritarianism or of
the excess of power? Give an example.
•
Superstition, corruption, cowardice marked the
exercise of Herod’s power. Compare this with the exercise of religious and
civil power today, in the various levels both of society and of the Church.
Concluding Prayer
In You, Yahweh, I take refuge, I shall
never be put to shame. In Your saving justice rescue me, deliver me, listen to
me and save me. (Ps 71: 1-2)
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