I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist

29 AUGUST (Mk 6,17-29)

The Book of Proverbs warns every man. It is easy to fall into sin because of a woman. It is also easy to betray the Lord, deny, and forget about him.

My son, to my wisdom be attentive, to my knowledge incline your ear, That discretion may watch over you, and understanding may guard you. The lips of an adulteress drip with honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil; But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, as sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death, to the nether world her steps attain; Lest you see before you the road to life, her paths will ramble, you know not where. So now, O children, listen to me, go not astray from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her, approach not the door of her house, Lest you give your honor to others, and your years to a merciless one; Lest strangers have their fill of your wealth, your hard-won earnings go to an alien’s house; And you groan in the end, when your flesh and your body are consumed; And you say, “Oh, why did I hate instruction, and my heart spurn reproof! Why did I not listen to the voice of my teachers, nor to my instructors incline my ear! I have all but come to utter ruin, condemned by the public assembly!” Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. How may your water sources be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets? Let your fountain be yours alone, not one shared with strangers; And have joy of the wife of your youth, your lovely hind, your graceful doe. Her love will invigorate you always, through her love you will flourish continually, When you lie down she will watch over you, and when you wake, she will share your concerns; wherever you turn, she will guide you. Why then, my son, should you go astray for another’s wife and accept the embraces of an adulteress? For each man’s ways are plain to the Lord’s sight; all their paths he surveys; By his own iniquities the wicked man will be caught, in the meshes of his own sin he will be held fast; He will die from lack of discipline, through the greatness of his folly he will be lost. (Pr 5,1-23).

History is made of very much evil and very little good. When evil knocks at our door, it is compulsory for all to drive it away, not enter into communion with it, to keep it out of our home and our hearts. Once evil is introduced into our body, it multiplies to an excess in the mode of virus and it becomes impossible to rule it. A sin brings with it a multitude of other sins.

Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married. John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so. Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him. She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee. Herodias’s own daughter came in and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.” He even swore (many things) to her, “I will grant you whatever you ask of me, even to half of 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 back to the king’s presence and made her request, “I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” The king was deeply distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests he did not wish to break his word to her. So he 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.

Herod has brought the source of sin into his house. Herodias is a perennial source of evil, a bottomless pit of nastiness. Herod would have never wanted to kill John the Baptist. He kills him due to his foolishness and ignorance, but also because of the nastiness and viciousness of this woman that at all costs wants to quench her thirst with the blood of the Precursor of the Lord. This story must be as example, reason, stimulus, and invitation for us all not to ever play with sin. Sin will never play around with us and will kill us, in a way that we could have never suspected.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, and Saints make us live without sin.