Word to the Wise
Wednesday, August 29, 2007 - Martyrdom of John the Baptist
[1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 and Mark 6:17-29]Herodias' own daughter came in and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, "Asl 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."
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2007 THE MARTYRDOM OF JOHN THE BAPTIST [1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 and Mark 6:17-29] Herodias' own daughter came in and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, "Asl 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 priest who told me the following story "swore it was true." Not long after the Second Vatican Council a curmudgeonly old bishop (a PA diocese was mentioned), went to a parish for confirmation. The offertory procession featured a young woman in a gauzy outfit who led the gift bearers by dancing her way down the aisle with a plate of smoking incense. The old bishop stonily watched the approaching procession, then leaned over to the pastor seated next to him and growled: "If she asks for your head, she can have it!" But the gospel story is not about the power of dance to persuade or even the resentment of Herodias, the mother of the girl whom tradition gives the name "Salome." John the Baptist is one important character in the liturgical calendar. His birth, his death and his ministry all get a lot of attention. While there is a great deal more theological material in the stories of his birth and ministry, I would be willing to bet that people will forever be fascinated by the story from the Gospel of Mark. It is lurid and historically inaccurate but who cares? Mark probably put it there to create a comparison for John the Baptist with the story of Jezebel's hatred for Elijah the Prophet and with Jesus, who would die because of the resentment of petty religious officials. The importance of these parallels can easily get lost in the soap opera and especially the climax where the guard brings in the head of John the Baptist on a platter! No doubt, the little school kids would all cry delightedly: EEWWWWW! GROSS! Like Jesus, John paid the ultimate price for his prophetic vocation. If nothing else, his death under such tawdry and trivial circumstances reminds us that prophetic words have the power to move dangerous people. One would hope those same prophetic words move the greater mass of us who aren't quite so dangerous! AMEN
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