Word to the Wise
Wednesday, August 29, 2012 - Aug. 29 - The Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist
[Jer 1:17-19 and Mark 6:17-29]"But you, gird up your loins, arise, and say to them everything I command you." [Jeremiah]
The liturgical calendar folks seem to "tidy up" things once in awhile. Today's feast was once entitled, The Beheading of John the Baptist. Now it is called either the Martyrdom or (as my little misalette says) the "Passion" of John the Baptist! No amount of euphemism can overcome the vivid story in the Gospel of Mark! It has fascinated artists and composers for hundreds of years. A scruffy looking prophet, an angry wife, a drunken king, a dancing girl, a wild party, and a grizzly head on a platter - that makes for a great story! And it is the dramatic way the life of a dramatic prophet ended! Some scripture scholars see John's death as foretelling the way Jesus would die - unjustly at the hands of jealous authorities.
The quotation from the prophet Jeremiah pretty much describes what led to John's arrest and death. He said what God told him to say. It struck home and he suffered the fate of many prophets. Some might have said, "Who cares who Herod marries! He's just a puppet of the Romans anyhow!" That kind of thinking is what allows folks even in our day to shrug at misbehavior in high places. John the Baptist could be the patron saint of "whistle blowers." Can we claim to have his courage? Is our faith strong enough? AMEN
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