August 29, 2026
Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist
Lectionary: 430/634
Reading 1
Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters.
Not many of you were wise by human standards,
not many were powerful,
not many were of noble birth.
Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise,
and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong,
and God chose the lowly and despised of the world,
those who count for nothing,
to reduce to nothing those who are something,
so that no human being might boast before God.
It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus,
who became for us wisdom from God,
as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,
so that, as it is written,
Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be
his own.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down;
he sees all mankind.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
But see, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield,
For in him our hearts rejoice;
in his holy name we trust.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
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/082926.cfm
Commentary on 1
Corinthians 1:26-31
Today’s reading picks up from yesterday’s discussion about
true wisdom in relation to the Cross of Christ and applies it to the Christian
disciples of Corinth. As a clear example and proof of the power of Christ’s
weakness, Paul cites the Corinthian Christians themselves. They are living
proof that salvation does not depend on merely human resources. If they
experience salvation, the credit must go completely to the Lord.
Most of the early Christian converts did not come from the
class of intellectuals, from the politically influential or from aristocratic
families. By the standards of the world, they were not considered among the
more intellectually gifted. This only emphasises the power of Christ’s message
which the powerful were not able to overturn—and still cannot overturn.
God has called not the wise and the rich and the powerful to
build his Kingdom, but the poorly educated and the economically weak. He chose:
…what is foolish in the world to shame the wise…what is
weak in the world to shame the strong…
Paul continues:
God chose what is low and despised in the world, things
that are not, to abolish things that are, so that no one might boast in the
presence of God.
This does two things: it proves that the deeper wisdom is in
the Way of Christ, while, at the same time, what the Christians do achieve is
the work of God in them and not something they can personally boast about. Paul
says:
God is why you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us
wisdom from God…
To recognise that wisdom, we need the inspiration of God
through his Spirit. These Christians, low down in the social scale, are the
evidence of God’s power and greatness. God has become their wisdom, their
virtue, their holiness and their freedom.
Later on, the might of kings and governments and ‘wise men’
will be thrown against them, but they will have a power within them that cannot
be overcome. This has happened again and again, down to our own day. Within our
own lifetime, regimes have tried to obliterate the Christian way, and they have
failed.
The committed Christian is possessed of a vision of life
that opponents do not understand. It is a vision based on the search for truth
and love and justice as the only weapons of power. Equipped with such
transcendent weapons which originate in God, they cannot but win out in the end.
(Note: The Gospel reading today is proper to the memorial
and must be used even if the ferial readings are otherwise chosen.)
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 Jesus 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.
https://sacredspace.com/commentary
Saturday,
August 29, 2026
The Passion of St. 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, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Mark 6: 17-29
Now it was this same Herod who
had sent to have John arrested and had had him chained up in prison because of
Herodias, his brother Philip's wife whom he had married. For John had told
Herod, 'It is against the law for you to have your brother's wife.' As for
Herodias, she was furious with him and wanted to kill him, but she was not able
to do so, because Herod was in awe of John, knowing him to be a good and
upright man, and gave him his protection. When he had heard him speak, he was
greatly perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him. An opportunity came on
Herod's birthday when he gave a banquet for the nobles of his court, for his
army officers and for the leading figures in Galilee.
When the
daughter of this same Herodias came in and danced, she delighted Herod and his
guests; so the king said to the girl, 'Ask me anything you like and I will give
it you.' And he swore on her oath, 'I will give you anything you ask, even half
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 at once rushed back to the king and made her request, 'I
want you to give me John the Baptist's head, immediately, on a dish.' The king
was deeply distressed but, thinking of the oaths he had sworn and of his
guests; he was reluctant to break his word to her.
At once the
king sent one of the bodyguards with orders to bring John's head. The man went
off and beheaded him in the prison; then he brought the head on a dish and gave
it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. When John's disciples heard
about this, 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 a process, during a
banquet, victim of the corruption and arrogance of Herod and of his court.
•
Mark 6: 17-20. The cause of the imprisonment and
murdering of John. Herod was an employee of the Roman Empire, who commanded in
Palestine since the year 63 before Christ. Caesar was the Emperor of Rome. He
insisted above all, in an efficient administration which would provide revenue
for the Empire and for him. The concern of Herod was his own promotion and his
security. This is why he repressed 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). Flavio Giuseppe, a writer of that time, informs that the reason for the
imprisonment of John the Baptist was the fear that Herod had of a popular
uprising or revolt. The denunciation of John the Baptist’s against the depraved
morality of Herod (Mk 6: 18), was the drop which made the glass overflow, 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 murdering of John. It was an environment in which the powerful of the
kingdom met together and in which the alliances were formed. In the feast
participated “the great of the court, two officials and two important persons
from Galilee”. This was the environment in which the murdering 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 vengeance. All this reveals the moral weakness of Herod. So much power
accumulated in the hands of one man who had no control of self. 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 made by oath. For Herod, the life of the subjects was
worthless. This is how Mark gives an account of the fact as it happened and
leaves the communities the task of drawing the conclusion.
•
Between lines, the Gospel today gives much
information on the time in which Jesus lived and on the way in which the power
was exercised on the part of 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 before Christ until the year 39 after Christ, 43 years! During the
whole time of the life of Jesus 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 against the
popular revolt. This happened when Jesus was about seven years old. Tiberiade,
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. Tiberiade 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 (Mc 6: 21). The landowners, the soldiers, the
policemen lived there and also the judges, who, many times were 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 the Jesus entered the city.
During the 43 years of the government
of Herod, a class of officials, faithful to the project 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 persons 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
persons 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. Much courage was necessary to begin something new, as John and
Jesus did! It was the same thing as to attract on 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 persons who died 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 power of Herod. 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)
The Beheading of John the Baptist
Today’s celebration commemorates the death of John the
Baptist, which was in many ways a precursor to the death of Jesus. From the
time of their birth, the lives of Jesus and his cousin are closely linked. From
the very beginning, John paves the way for Jesus. There are similarities about
their birth, their work and their death. Yet, as John always insisted, he was
just preparing the way for Jesus, the thongs of whose sandals he was not worthy
to loosen.
There is a key word in the Gospels which runs like a refrain
throughout them—the term ‘handed over’. The Greek word is paradidomi and
it means ‘to hand over’. In Latin it becomes tradere, from which we
get the words ‘tradition’ (handing on of customs and wisdom of the past) and
‘traitor’ (the treacherous handing over of a person into the hands of another).
The whole of the Scripture is ‘tradition’ in that sense and
we use the word ‘traitor’ for people who treacherously betray some good person
or good value. The verb ‘hand over’ is used in the Gospel of Mark with regard
to Jesus and his most faithful disciples. It was something of which Jesus spoke
several times, and it continues to our own day.
Today we remember the ‘handing over’ of John the Baptist
into the power of people who were totally against what he stood for and who
ultimately executed him.
https://sacredspace.com/commentary/f0829s/
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