The Gospel today tells the story of the death of John the Baptist. It is a story of three characters: a king who is a slave to his reputatio...
The Gospel today tells the story of the death of John the Baptist. It is a story of three characters: a king who is a slave to his reputation, a woman who is a slave to her grudge, and a prophet who is a slave to the Truth. John the Baptist was the Voice crying out in the desert, and even in a prison cell, that voice could not be silenced. Herod liked to listen to John, even though John’s words challenged his immoral life. But when push came to shove, Herod chose his ego over the truth.
John the Baptist’s death seems like a defeat. A great man killed for the whim of a dancing girl and a drunken promise. But in the eyes of God, this was a Victory. As Sirach tells us in the first reading, David was honored for his exploits, but his true greatness was that he "gave thanks to the Holy One." John’s life was a constant "thank you" to God, a life of total integrity.
This spirit of Valor is echoed in the lives of Saint Paul Miki and his 26 companions, the martyrs of Japan. In 1597, they were marched 600 miles to their execution site in Nagasaki. They sang the Te Deum as they walked. Like John the Baptist, Paul Miki refused to be silent. While hanging on his cross, he preached his most powerful sermon, forgiving his executioners and declaring that the only way to salvation is through Christ.
We live in a world that often wants us to "dance" to its tune, to compromise our values to fit in, or to stay silent when we see injustice. John the Baptist and Paul Miki remind us that our "voice" matters. True valor isn't the absence of fear; it is the decision that the Truth of the Gospel is more precious than life itself. Today, ask for the grace to speak the truth with love, and to remember that even when the world thinks we are losing, in Christ, we have already won the victory.
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