Thursday, 29 August 2013
The Beheading of St John the Baptist
Is 49:1b-2
The Lord called me before I was born, from my
mother’s womb he pronounced my name.
He made my mouth a sharp sword, and hid me in the
shadow of his hand.
He made me into a sharpened arrow, and concealed me
in his quiver.
From a homily by St. Bede the Venerable, priest
(Hom 23: CCL 122, 354, 356-357)
Precursor of Christ in birth and
death
As forerunner of our Lord’s birth,
preaching and death, the blessed John showed in his struggle a goodness worthy
of the sight of heaven. In the words of Scripture: Though in the sight
of men he suffered torments, his hope is full of immortality. We
justly commemorate the day of his birth with a joyful celebration, a day which
he himself made festive for us through his suffering and which he adorned with
the crimson splendour of his own blood. We do rightly revere his memory with
joyful hearts, for he stamped with the seal of martyrdom the testimony which he
delivered on behalf of our Lord.
There is no doubt that blessed
John suffered imprisonment and chains as a witness to our Redeemer, whose
forerunner he was, and gave his life for him. His persecutor had demanded not
that he should deny Christ, but only that he should keep silent about the
truth. Nevertheless, he died for Christ. Does Christ not say: I am the
truth? Therefore, because John shed his blood for the truth, he surely
died for Christ.
Through his birth, preaching
and baptising, he bore witness to the coming birth, preaching and baptism of
Christ, and by his own suffering he showed that Christ also would suffer.
Such was the quality and
strength of the man who accepted the end of this present life by shedding his
blood after the long imprisonment. He preached the freedom of heavenly peace,
yet was thrown into irons by ungodly men; he was locked away in the darkness of
prison, though he came bearing witness to the Light of life and deserved to be
called a bright and shining lamp by that Light itself, which is Christ. John
was baptised in his own blood, though he had been privileged to baptise the
Redeemer of the world, to hear the voice of the Father above him, and to see
the grace of the Holy Spirit descending upon him. But to endure temporal
agonies for the sake of the truth was not a heavy burden for such men as John;
rather it was easily borne and even desirable, for he knew eternal joy would be
his reward.
Since death was ever near at
hand through the inescapable necessity of nature, such men considered it a
blessing to embrace it and thus gain the reward of eternal life by
acknowledging Christ’s name. Hence the apostle Paul rightly says: You
have been granted the privilege not only to believe in Christ but also to
suffer for his sake. He tells us why it is Christ’s gift that his
chosen ones should suffer for him: The sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us.
Concluding Prayer: O God, it was your will that
John the Baptist should be your Son’s forerunner in both birth and death.
Just as he fell a martyr,
witness to truth and righteousness,
so may we fight fiercely to
proclaim your teaching.
Through our Lord . . .
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