Memorial of the Martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist

Today's Mass Readings

Today we celebrate the Memorial of the Martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist. St. John the Baptist powerfully prepared the way of the Lord. He was an incredible witness to the kingdom of God. We have him as a model of how to follow God and proclaim His message faithfully in our own lives. In today's first reading from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, we encounter St. Paul's statement that "we proclaim Christ crucified" (1 Cor. 1:23). St. John the Baptist's preaching was one way of proclaiming Christ crucified. Jesus had not yet been crucified when St. John the Baptist preached, nor was He crucified while St. John the Baptist was living. But, in St. John the Baptist's message that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), we catch a hidden glimpse of what Jesus would do, how He would function as the sacrificial Lamb of God and take away are sins.

As important as his message, St. John the Baptist proclaimed Christ crucified in his own body, as he suffered and died at the hands of King Herod, which we read about in today's Gospel reading from St. Mark. St. John the Baptist led a sacrificial life to the end when he was beheaded for the sake of the kingdom. Both St. John the Baptist and Jesus Himself provide models for us to follow. We too need to preach Christ crucified, not simply in our words, but also in our sacrificial loving deeds, in the manner in which we live our own lives.

We may never be called to be beheaded or physically crucified, but every day we are called to carry our crosses, and to bear one another's burdens. Let us then proclaim the love of God presented before us in Jesus crucified. Let us proclaim Christ crucified in our very lives so that others may see our love and turn back to God.

- Jeff Morrow