Reading 1 1 Cor 2:1-5
proclaiming the mystery of God,
I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom.
For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you
except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling,
and my message and my proclamation
were not with persuasive words of wisdom,
but with a demonstration of spirit and power,
so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom
but on the power of God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 119:97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102
How I love your law, O LORD!
It is my meditation all the day.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
Your command has made me wiser than my enemies,
for it is ever with me.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
I have more understanding than all my teachers
when your decrees are my meditation.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
I have more discernment than the elders,
because I observe your precepts.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
From every evil way I withhold my feet,
that I may keep your words.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
From your ordinances I turn not away,
for you have instructed me.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
Alleluia Mt 5:10
Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mk 6:17-29
Herod was the one who had John the Baptist arrested and bound in prisonon account of Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
John had said to Herod,
“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.
She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,
gave a banquet for his courtiers,
his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee.
Herodias’ own daughter came in
and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests.
The king said to the girl,
“Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.”
He even swore many things to her,
“I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
even to half of my kingdom.”
She went out and said to her mother,
“What shall I ask for?”
She replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”
The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request,
“I want you to give me at once
on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was deeply distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.
So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders
to bring back his head.
He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl.
The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
HEAD LINES
"Give me, at once, the head of John the Baptizer on a platter." –Mark 6:25
It's amazing what a cheap price was paid for the head of St. John the Baptizer: it only took the whim of a dancing girl and her begrudging mother, and the weakness and pride of an insecure ruler, Herod, to purchase the head of the greatest man ever born before Christ (Mt 11:11). John had the most valuable beginning. An angel sent from heaven heralded his conception (Lk 1:13). He was miraculously conceived by a mother past her age of childbearing (Lk 1:18, 24-25, 36). The mother of the Lord, and Jesus Himself, visited John's mother while he was in his mother's womb (Lk 1:39-40). John's body leaped for joy when he heard the voice of Mary, the mother of his Lord (Lk 1:44). People for miles around marveled: " 'What will this child be?' and 'Was not the hand of the Lord upon him?' " (Lk 1:66).
The Lord greatly valued John's head. Nonetheless, the rulers of John's country put little value upon his head, except to flaunt it at their drunken party. We Christians are in a similar position. As of this writing, some Christians are being beheaded in the Middle East for their faith. Their heads are valued as nothing except as a means to spread terror. Jesus, however, cherishes not only our heads, but even the hair on our heads. Nothing can harm us without God permitting it. Jesus allowed His head to be pierced by a crown of thorns, and God changed His pain into glory. "As for you, even the hair of your head has been counted, so do not be afraid of anything" (Mt 10:30).
| PRAYER: | Jesus, my head, heart, and life are all Yours. |
| PROMISE: | "I determined that while I was with you I would speak of nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified." –1 Cor 2:2 |
| PRAISE: | St. John the Baptizer fulfilled his mission and the prophecy of Isaiah 40:3. St. John, in his humility, cried out, "[Jesus] must increase, while I must decrease" (Jn 3:30). |
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