Readings : Jeremiah 1:17-19; Psalm 70; Mark 6:17-29
The title of today’s Memorial taken from the Missal is The Passion of Saint John the Baptist. Two words there – Saint and Passion – not only suggest but state the significance of the person remembered today, John the Baptist. Calling the beheading of John at the hands of Herod his Passion points out his blood relationship to Jesus in a very realistic manner while naming him Saint shows his relationship to the Holy Spirit. Rather than seeing John then as a minor character in the unfolding of the Jesus story that the Gospels undertake, his importance is indicated in the Introduction to a study which was published 30 years ago: ‘The fact that the traditions about John can be traced to every layer of the gospel tradition points to the early acceptance of a significant role for him in the life of the Church and in its understanding of its own mission’.[1]
The subtitle of this study – Prophet and Evangelist – goes beyond the received understanding of the cousin of Jesus as merely another minor prophet pointing to Jesus. In this perspective John points out Jesus and prepares the way in a unique manner through his Passion. After calling John ‘a Martyr for truth and justice’ in the Opening Prayer, the Prayer over the Offerings presents him as having ‘powerfully sealed his teaching by the shedding of his blood’. If we substituted passionately for powerfully here we could perhaps appreciate more the personal involvement and investment of John who was prepared and, in the words of the Preface, it was; ‘He alone of all the prophets pointed out the Lamb of redemption’.
Alongside his role as herald of the saving mission of Jesus and the church John’s spiritual hallmark is his humility. The response to today’s Psalm could be readily placed in his mouth: ‘My lips will tell of your justice, O Lord’. This is the saving justice of the Gospel that Jesus proclaimed and paid his life in service of. In playing his part John is an indispensable piece of the picture, the willing witness who makes way for Jesus, Messiah and Saviour. As a victim of the violent thuggery of those prepared to go to any length, even killing others, to save their own skin and status in society, John is the patron saint of the innocent and those injured by the moral cowardice of others, especially office holders.
Kevin O’Gorman SMA
[1] Carl R. Kazmierski, John the Baptist, Liturgical Press, 1996, 9.