When we hear the word passion, our minds almost always turn to the Passion of Our Lord Jesus during Holy Week. However, there is another passion that is often less spoken about. It is the Passion of Saint John the Baptist.
Not fashion. Not fusion. But passion, a word rooted in love and sacrifice.
The Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist (traditionally known as the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist) is observed on August 29. It commemorates his martyrdom for fearlessly defending God’s moral law and speaking truth to power.
“The king promptly dispatched an executioner with orders to bring back his head. He went off and beheaded him in the prison. He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl. The girl in turn gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.” (MK 6:17-29)
John openly condemned King Herod Antipas for divorcing his first wife and illegally marrying Herodias, the wife of his living half-brother Philip, in violation of Jewish law.
John was ultimately executed not for a grand political plot, but due to a rash promise made by a drunken Herod during a birthday banquet after being charmed by the dancing of Herodias’s daughter, Salome.
Prompted by her vengeful mother, Salome demanded the head of Saint John the Baptist on a platter. Unwilling to save a righteous man’s life out of fear of losing face before his guests, a grieved Herod carried out the unjust execution. Christian tradition views John’s martyr death at the hands of a corrupt ruler as a direct precursor to the Passion of Christ, the final fulfillment of John’s mission to decrease so that Christ might increase.
As our society continues to face issues of corruption, moral compromise, and abuse of power, Saint John the Baptist stands as a beacon of integrity. He reminds us that standing for what is right is rarely popular, but truth is never up for compromise.
May we find the strength to choose courage over convenience, integrity over social approval, and God’s truth over human compromise.
Saint John the Baptist, pray for us!