Homily for the Memorial of
The Passion of St. John the
Baptist
Aug. 29, 2024
Collect
Christian Brothers, St.
Joseph’s Residence, N.R.
The Feast of Herod &
the Beheading of the Baptist (Giovanni Baronzio)
“He died a martyr for
truth and justice” (Collect).
The Liturgy of the Hours and
the collect emphasize John the Baptist’s bearing witness to the truth; the
collect adds “justice.”
Luke’s Gospel brings out the
“justice” when John tells people to share from their abundance, tax collectors
not to collect more than is due, and soldiers not to rob people and to be
satisfied with their pay (3:10-14). I
suppose we could also call it justice toward the tetrarch Herod Philip that
John disallows his wife Herodias’s unlawful marriage to Herod Antipas. (Keeping track of all the Herods in the NT era
is a major project.)
More important is John’s
testimony to the truth. He knew who he
was, the forerunner, the lesser of 2 lights in the world, the one who had to
decrease in order that the Messiah might increase; and he said so. He identified Jesus as the Lamb of God, the
one who would take away our sins, and directed his own disciples to Jesus. He pointed out the failures and sins of
people in power. Today’s memorial,
obviously, highlights his condemnation of Herod’s supposed marriage. In neither the gospels nor Josephus do we
hear that any of the religious leaders did so.
John stands out. Not for nothing
did Jesus tell the crowds, “Among those born of women there has been none
greater than John the Baptist” (Matt 11:11).
Truth hasn’t become less
important, altho in our day it’s often reduced to one’s personal opinion. You have your truth, and I have mine. As regards bearing true witness to Jesus,
here’s a little example: It’s somewhat
fashionable for Scripture students and some others to replace B.C. and A.D.
in dates with B.C.E. and C.E., referring to the “Common Era.” I can understand a non-Christian’s doing so—but
a Christian? Are we ashamed to testify
to Christ the Lord?
Far more important, of
course, is that we persistently testify to moral truths, “whether the time is
favorable or unfavorable,” as St. Paul says about preaching the Gospel (2 Tim
4:2): truths about human dignity, human
life, human rights, human sexuality, religious freedom, war and peace, capital
punishment, migrants and refugees. Read
the Pope’s public audience yesterday, wherein he says, among other things, “Systematically
working, using all means, to push back migrants, when done consciously and
responsibly, is a grave sin.”[1]
You’re not in a classroom
any longer, brothers. But you still
wield influence in other forums. You can
still imitate John the Baptist.
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