Losing His Head
February 5th, 2010 Posted in :60 ReflectionsWe see a bit of an anomaly in today’s liturgy. Instead of going back to 1 Kings, our first reading today finds us in Sirach 47. Here Sirach gives a synopsis of the life of David, whose death we read about yesterday. I hope that today’s title isn’t too flip. The Gospel reading is from Mark 6, the account of why and how John the Baptist was beheaded. It is a sad and grisly story, but one that we can learn much from. I encourage you to read it.
Herod is something of a tragic figure in the story. He’s one of these people that it would be easy to have a love/hate attitude towards. He had a great deal of respect for John the Baptist. There was something about him that made Herod uneasy, yet he found himself strangely attracted to. John spoke the truth. And it cost him his head. You have to kind of admire Herod. Though he had John beheaded, he was a man of his word. I guess you could say that he did the wrong thing for the right reason.
John the Baptist is a true of example of courage under fire. I, too, find that attractive. He spoke the truth, regardless of the cost. I suppose that at some point he could have capitulated and told Herod that he really did nothing wrong. But that, in and of itself, would have been wrong. So John did not back down. Let us pray that we can follow his example of courage to the end.
Father, help us to emulate John the Baptist. Help us to boldly proclaim the truth in love, regardless of the cost. Amen.
