Gospel of 29 August 2026 Memorial of the Beheading of St John the… — Fr MC’s Homilies and Podcast — TG.ME

Gospel of 29 August 2026 Memorial of the Beheading of St John the Baptist Mark 6:17-29 The beheading of John the Baptist Herod sent to have John arrested, and had him chained up in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife whom he had married. For John had told Herod, ‘It is against the law for you to have your brother’s wife.’ As for Herodias, she was furious with him and wanted to kill him; but she was not able to, because Herod was afraid of John, knowing him to be a good and holy man, and gave him his protection. When he had heard him speak he was greatly perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him. An opportunity came on Herod’s birthday when he gave a banquet for the nobles of his court, for his army officers and for the leading figures in Galilee. When the daughter of this same Herodias came in and danced, she delighted Herod and his guests; so the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me anything you like and I will give it you.’ And he swore her an oath, ‘I will give you anything you ask, even half my kingdom.’ She went out and said to her mother, ‘What shall I ask for?’ She replied, ‘The head of John the Baptist.’ The girl hurried straight back to the king and made her request, ‘I want you to give me John the Baptist’s head, here and now, on a dish.’ The king was deeply distressed but, thinking of the oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he was reluctant to break his word to her. So the king at once sent one of the bodyguard with orders to bring John’s head. The man went off and beheaded him in prison; then he brought the head on a dish and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. When John’s disciples heard about this, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. Reflexion One of the most popular phrases we hear in political discourse is “speak truth to power.” It is so popular that it has become cliched. The proposition is fine when we are challenging falsehood with the truth. But today, the term is often applied loosely in reference to any opinion or position which you strongly support, and which you use against any other position you disagree with. So, speaking truth to power in modern parlance is no longer about objective truth but speaking one’s subjection opinion which you believe to be true. The trouble is that not every single opinion is truth. It may just be another silly or terribly bad idea. The role of a prophet, as demonstrated by St John the Baptist, is not merely to assert your personal opinion and refusing to assume the fallout that comes from stating that position publicly. The role of a prophet is to state the Truth of God, even if it’s unpopular and to accept whatever dire consequences that it brings, even at the risk of losing one’s life. You want to know how to “speak truth to power,” look no further - here we have the example of St John the Baptist, who was the most important witness to the promised Messiah and who challenged the immorality of a tyrant and paid the price for it. What is admired about St John the Baptist was that he was a herald of the Truth. He spoke of Christ who is the Truth, and led people to the Truth. His words were not politically correct, that is, they were not shallow, conciliatory and false. He rebuked the commoner who approached him in repentance as well as the king who stood aloof at a distance, indicating to them the correct path, the restoration of justice, and to align their lives with the Law of God. Of course, this had consequences for him, namely imprisonment and finally beheading. What makes it more tragic is that the Baptist lost his head over a silly dance. This is the way of the world: we make light of weighty matters, and pay a great deal of attention to trivial things, like reality shows and public relation exercises. That is why our lives should be anchored to the truth, rather than be based on changing fads and popularity polls. We must be people of the truth and not falsehood, of simplicity and not duplicity and hypocrisy.