Daily Gospel Reflection for August 29, 2023

Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

The Roman Catholic Church celebrates both the nativity and the passing of only three people: Our Lord, Our Lady, and today’s saint—St. John the Baptist. Today we commemorate the Passion of St. John the Baptist.

John the Baptist is the voice of one calling out in the desert, preparing the way of the Lord. After John baptized Our Lord, he still continued to use his voice for truth - this time, to defend the sanctity of marriage.

Herod Antipas, already a married man, fell in love with Herodias, who—through a tangled family tree—was actually both his niece and sister-in-law. John proclaimed in a very simple, bold, and straight-forward manner the truth that this adultery, incest, and fornication were not lawful. In doing so, he incurred Herodias’s wrath, and she waited for an opportunity to strike.

That moment came at Herod’s birthday feast. Herodias’s daughter, Salome, performed a dance for Herod and his guests. This solo dancing was sensual and wanton: the enticing movements of prostitutes. Herod is carried away in a drunken passion and promises Salome half his kingdom. At the prompting of her mother, she asks rather for John’s head.

Just as John the Baptist served as the forerunner to Christ’s ministry, so does he foreshadow the events of Christ’s crucifixion. Herod is intrigued by John, like Pilate is with Jesus, later. Yet both leaders yield to outside pressure and put the prisoner to an unlawful death. Herodias’s hatred toward John mirrors that of the Jewish leaders toward Jesus. Finally, after both John and Jesus die, their followers lovingly bury the body.

John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ from His advent all the way to His death. And he, the greatest born of women (Matthew 11:11), gave his life to defend the true meaning of marriage.

Ponder:

Am I in need of the courage to lovingly and directly speak to friends or family who may not be following God’s law concerning marriage? If married, what is one small thing I can do today to love my spouse better?

Pray:

Lord, You deigned that man should cling to his wife and that the two should become one flesh. Bless all marriages. May all husbands and wives love each other more each day.

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John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ from His advent all the way to His death. And he, the greatest born of women (Matthew 11:11), gave his life to defend the true meaning of marriage. #DailyGospel

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