08/29/2022 – Beheading of John the Baptist

Dia dhuit,

In June we celebrated the birthday of St John the Baptist.

Only his birthday, Our Lady’s and of course Our LORD’s are celebrated in the Church.

Today we also celebrate his martyrdom, his passion, his beheading.
One of the things that always strikes me about this holy man was his humility.

He was not interested in the adulation of the huge crowds that followed him, but rather in preparing a way for the LORD.

And so…. when the time came for him to die he gladly accepted this as an offering to further prepare the way for the LORD.

He was of course preparing the way for the ONE prophesied by the Prophet Isaiah as referred to in our Gospel today:

He has been sent “to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives,
and to the blind new sight,
to set the downtrodden free,
to proclaim the LORD’s year of favour.”
St John the Baptist, help us to be humble like you and to prepare a way for the LORD in our hearts.

God bless,
Fr Marius