Word to the Wise
Saturday, August 1, 2009 - St. Alphonsus Liguori, CSSR (founder of the Redemptorists)
[Leviticus 25:1, 8-17 and Matthew 14:1-12]Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist....
There is an amusing story told about a bishop who comes to a parish in his diocese for the Sacrament of Confirmation in the early days of the post-Vatican II liturgical reforms. At the offertory of the Mass, the procession with the gifts features a young girl in a flowing garment and carrying a bowl of smoking incense who leads the gift-bearers up the aisle. The bishop stands at the end of the aisle with a very stony look on his face. When the procession gets near him, he mutters to the sweating pastor next to him, "If she asks for your head, John, she can have it!" The story of the martyrdom of John the Baptist rests on a drunken whim and the need to save face! It seems a singularly shabby way to end the life of one of the greatest of the prophets! Jesus himself is quoted as saying, "Of all the men born to women, John the Baptist is the greatest....." However, it does illustrate the way in which the powerful, who are challenged by prophets, simply crush opposition. In this case, it is not just Herod, but his opportunistic spouse who jumps at the chance to get rid of the prophet. Someone or something very great is destroyed by the personal vendetta of the powerful. Stories of this sort abound in our own capital and among our own elected officials. Important pieces of legislation or important appointments of qualified persons come to nought because of political vendettas. The sheer venom of some talk-show hosts appalls me (I only hear it when I listen to news clips). Lord Acton wrote well: "Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." (He was writing about Pius IX!) The death of John the Baptist (or the fate of that poor pastor) should give us pause about the combination of human nature with political or ecclesiastical power. It's a scary mix and is kept in balance only by grace and integrity. AMEN
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