Memorial of the
Passion of Saint John the Baptist
(I Thessalonians 3:7-13; Mark 6:17-29)
In the gospel reading today a man makes an oath to do
something that turns out to be immoral.
Herod promises his stepdaughter anything that she might ask. He does not imagine her wanting him to
murder. We must ask, “Is such an oath
binding?”
No, it is not because it involves doing something evil
which is always wrong. Unfortunately, people
are sometimes so proud that they think their every word must carried out. They need humility. Discovering that they have made a foolish
oath, humble people beg God’s forgiveness for their mindlessness. They never carry out an unconscionable act.
Today’s celebration of the passion of John the Baptist
should be more than a lesson on oath-taking.
John dies like an Old Testament prophet giving witness to the
truth. His manner of death prefigures
Jesus’. A civil system that arrests a
man for speaking out against immorality will hardly tolerate one who seeks to
inaugurate an even greater righteousness.
A more perfect man than John the Baptist, Jesus will suffer a more
brutal death.
