23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Just this week we celebrated a Feast of Saint John the Baptist. It is interesting that in three missals, the Feast had three titles. In the Spanish Missal the Feast is named the Beheading of John the Baptist. In the Italian missal it is called the Martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist and in the English missal we see it celebrated as the Passion of Saint John the Baptist.
It is fascinating that we have three names for the feast—but—when you meditate on it you realize it is only one act of love.
Lets see how it is all put together and learn how it refers—even two thousand years later—to us.
The Beheading of John the Baptist
First of all it was the beheading of John the Baptist—the last of the prophets to foretell the coming of the Messiah—and he is actually the cousin of the Messiah. John was no coward, and fearlessly and loudly he preached and taught the forgiveness of sin up and down Israel. His problem, however, was that in order to preach about forgiveness he needed to preach about sin—and how we need to change our sinful lives into lives of virtue.
In fact he challenged King Herod for engaging in an adulterous relationship with his own sister-in-law. If you think you can’t get lower than that—you don’t know this family. They then arrested John for condemning publicly this act of murder and incest and whatever else it was—and used his step-daughter to seduce a probably drunken Herod so that she can get him to order the beheading of John, and have his bloody head brought before them on a platter.
I cannot think of a more debased and savage story than this. And these people were royalty—the bearers of civilization—well—as my aunt Mary would have said in Gaelic “when one cockroach meets another.” But think of John’s virtue and nobility in all of this. His suffering is called his Passion. And what a beautiful word that is. Usually modern Americans think of it as some overheated, over-exercised emotional moment.
But it obviously means something deeper than that—after all we call Jesus’ Calvary His Passion.
Passion
Well Passion comes from the Latin word passus est—he or she endures whatever they have to endure, they suffer whatever they have to suffer—for the sake of the one who is loved.
Passion indicates a love so deep and so strong that the one who loves passionately does not care about the abuse or pain or misery that will be visited upon his body—as long as he—or she—can love the other person and maybe either save that one or save others.
And he will offer his very life—he will endure whatever torture or dismemberment or shame or hurt—he will even die if by means of that pain or that death—he can spare the loved one.
I think of all the martyrs—right down to modern times. Their love for Jesus and for their families was so passionate that they—like John the Baptist—gladly endured all manner of suffering for the sake of love.
I think of Jose Luis Sanchez—the fifteen year old Mexican Martyr from the Cristeros. They cut the soles of his feet—made him walk to the hole they had him dig and begged him in front of his parents and godparents to deny Jesus.
“It is only words”, they said—“say those words and you can go home. Believe anything you want to believe—privately—just say the words publicly that you deny Jesus and go home.” But Jose Luis knew it was not about words—it was about persons—it was about love. It was about Jesus who loved Jose Luis enough to die for him—and how Jose would die for Jesus. It was about love.
And Jose Luis—like John the Baptist and like every other martyr before him would testify—by the way they lived their lives and by the way they gave up their lives—that God is real—and that He is love and that He is good. And in the face of evil and meanness and deceit and dishonesty and debauchery—they would give testimony to goodness and virtue and kindness and purity and loyalty. Their testimony would not be words or statements but the sacrifice of their very life.
Martyrdom
And that is what the word martyr means—it is Greek for witness. And to what do martyrs witness? To the fact that God is Love and he calls us to love. That love is so deep and it is so passionate—we will even give up our lives for it.
I call to your attention what is happening these very days all over the world—particularly wherever Christians are in contact with Muslims—Nigeria and Iraq and Syria—and in parts of Asia—and even Europe.
The followers of Mohammed are rising up again in all their historic savagery and bloodlust Christians are being shot, bombed, tortured, crucified, beheaded, and kidnapped. Christian women and children are being raped and abducted. There are three hundred thousand Iraqi Christians remaining in Iraq who have been told by the worshipers of Mahomet to convert to Islam or die.
And it is likely that most of them are going to die. But that’s ok—they say. Because their love for Jesus is so passionate—that they will endure whatever they must endure—including death—rather than deny their Lord.
And they will be martyrs giving witness to the beauty and goodness of the true God.
Now, it is not unthinkable that these Muslims will carry their beastliness here. Why would it be so unlikely that we would ever be asked to suffer and die for Jesus? And it may come down to us like that. But think about it: You and I hope we have enough faith and passion and courage to die for the faith—But when the Muslims—or Barak Obama for that matter—put it to us— would we give up our jobs for Jesus? Would we go homeless for Jesus? Would we walk with our parents and children into the forest preserves and try to camp next to the Desplaines River for Jesus? Or would we look for a Bishop or a Jesuit to tell us that it is just words and that we can actually say those words without really denying Jesus in our hearts.
And how about the millions of Catholics who no longer go to Mass—or who only go sporadically—what will they say when they are told to convert to Islam or die? How will they respond to the ancient Mohammedan threat? I have a feeling that they wont have any problem converting.
What Will the Future Hold?
I think of all the young people who graduate from all our Catholic schools year after year—grammar school— high school—college—you know the mainline Catholic schools—where only the smallest barely discernible percentage knows anything about the Catholic faith—and an even smaller percentage continues to practice that faith in any visible way. I think how they—along with the millions of young people who haven’t even made their first Communion will look on the Catholicism of their families and remember little and treasure nothing of that faith.
And maybe perhaps they even will harbor a grudge against the faith of their parents for never having taught them anything of value—for never explaining the reasons for their faith or encouraging its practice.
But they will see the Muslims wearing beards and burkhas and praying five times a day. They will see Muslims bowing and scraping-and chanting—men as well as women. They will look at Muslim fanaticism— and they will mistake it for zeal—they will mistake it for God—they will mistake it for holiness. And they will say—“Look! How interesting that these people believe in something!” And that will be the end of it.
I am deathly afraid that our young people won’t have to be put under the sword—and threatened. They won’t have to make a choice for Jesus or Mohammed. It wont be forced upon them. They will just convert.
In other words, think that what will happen is that when the time comes and our young people finally realize that secularism and consumerism and atheism are empty and evil and have only led them—for their whole lives—by means of their celebrity worship and social media obsessions—their smart phones and stupid games—into a dead-end of materialism—into a blind alley of despair—to the dark edge of nothingness—they will be looking for something more and not know it was in the religion of Jesus and of their grandparents.
And not knowing Our Lord and His love for them,
their open broken hearts—empty as they are of truth and holiness and goodness—will be eagerly filled by some imam who tells them about Mohammed and sixteen virgins awaiting them in a desert paradise.
Oh—maybe it wont happen that way—but the only way that we can prevent such a scenario is to study and teach our faith all over again to ourselves—to know it well and thoroughly and then teach it all over again to our young people.
And we need to teach that faith not so much as words and phrases and facts in a book—but as persons in love—with a love so passionate—that like all martyrs we shall be ready to give witness to that love by dying for that other person. The glorious thing is that this other Person is God—Jesus. And He will turn all our suffering into joy. And we will know that it was worth it.