20200829 SIN IN PEACE AND DIE IN PIECES
29 August, 2020, Saturday, The Beheading of John the Baptist
First reading |
Jeremiah 1:17-19 © |
Stand up and tell them all I command you; do not be dismayed at their presence
The word of the Lord was addressed to me, saying:
‘Brace yourself for action.
Stand up and tell them
all I command you.
Do not be dismayed at their presence,
or in their presence I will make you dismayed.
‘I, for my part, today will make you
into a fortified city,
a pillar of iron,
and a wall of bronze
to confront all this land:
the kings of Judah, its princes,
its priests and the country people.
They will fight against you
but shall not overcome you,
for I am with you to deliver you –
it is the Lord who speaks.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 70(71):1-6,15,17 © |
My lips will tell of your help.
In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, free me:
pay heed to me and save me.
My lips will tell of your help.
Be a rock where I can take refuge,
a mighty stronghold to save me;
for you are my rock, my stronghold.
Free me from the hand of the wicked.
My lips will tell of your help.
It is you, O Lord, who are my hope,
my trust, O Lord, since my youth.
On you I have leaned from my birth,
from my mother’s womb you have been my help.
My lips will tell of your help.
My lips will tell of your justice
and day by day of your help.
O God, you have taught me from my youth
and I proclaim your wonders still.
My lips will tell of your help.
Gospel Acclamation | Mt5:10 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Happy those who are persecuted
in the cause of right,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Alleluia!
Gospel | 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.
SIN IN PEACE AND DIE IN PIECES
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [JEREMIAH 1:17-19; MARK 6:17-29 ]
We are all sinners. The truth remains that we are so tempted by the world, the flesh and Satan that we prefer to sin than to live in truth and love. We want the pleasures of life, the honour and glory of the world, the freedom to give free rein to our passions, whether it is for sex, food, or feelings. We find it difficult to resist, especially with regard to sexual pleasure, which can consume us.
Regardless, we do not want to be reminded of our sins and our wrong doings. This is often the case for most sinners. The last thing we want is to be told of our sins or be reprimanded. We will fight ferociously for our right to live a sinful life. We will attack those who oppose our corrupt, selfish and sinful lifestyle. That is why prophets of truth are always unwelcome. This was true for all the prophets of Israel, including Jeremiah, John the Baptist, whose feast we are celebrating today, and of course our Lord Himself. There are people who have told me to stop preaching too much about sins, because “it is discouraging. We know we are sinners. We do not wish to be reminded of our sins.” Why? Because sinners want to sin in peace.
Sinners desire to sin without guilt. When the truth is preached, it unsettles their heart and their conscience. They want to hear affirming words, that it is all right to sin because the more we sin, the more God loves us. God understands that we are sinners, so our sins are acceptable because we are human. We should just live and let live. Indeed, the world only wants to hear good news. They want to be affirmed that what they are doing is acceptable. Is not this what moral relativism is seeking to do, to condition our minds? There is no moral truth; it is all a matter of preference. So, unity is achieved by consensus, or with the minority giving in to the preference of the majority. Better still, let each choose what he or she likes.
Secondly, people react negatively to prophets of truth and love because their teaching and reprimand bring us shame. In fact, whilst guilt is a burden of conscience that weighs us down, we are more worried about shame than guilt. We can pretend to be at peace even when we are carrying lots of guilt in our heart. But we cannot tolerate shame because it hurts our ego. As we know, pride is the foundation of all sins. We want to look good in front of others. We want to be accepted, to be popular and to be worshipped. So, when we are exposed for our crimes, our sin of infidelity, our sexual offences, we lose our dignity. This is why we hide our sins because of shame. Some fall into deep depression because of shame, and commit suicide.
This is precisely what the world seeks to eliminate, guilt and shame from living a sinful life. To remove guilt, they tell us that we are all immaculately conceived, not just the Blessed Virgin Mary, and we are all innocent like Adam and Eve when they were first created. So, there is no such thing as sin but simply a question of personal choices. Secondly, we try to get celebrities, entertainment, political, economic and corporate leaders to be on our side, not just to endorse such a lifestyle but living the lifestyle. Today, leaders are no longer judged on their moral lifestyles and what they do in their private life. So long as they ensure that the economy is doing well, people are free to do whatever they want to do, and there is no civil disorder, they will be guaranteed of being re-elected to power. People vote for a government that can raise their material standards of living, not whether they govern with the right moral values. Morality is strictly a private matter unless there is corruption with respect to money and power.
We can thus understand the anger and vindictiveness of Herodias. She was fuming mad at John the Baptist because he was not just putting guilt into her adulterous husband, Herod, but he was putting them to shame before the people. Indeed, they were not just ordinary people, unknown to the community. They were leaders and so the shame that John the Baptist brought on them was intolerable and unforgiveable. When a person loses face, he becomes very vindictive. As William Congreve said, “hell has no fury like a woman scorned.” She was consumed by anger and revenge and “wanted to kill him; but she was not able to, because Herod was afraid of John.” This made her even more upset because she failed to get the support of Herod to have him silenced completely so that they could continue to sin in peace and be in public without shame.
This is what the world is doing as well. If ever the Church or anyone speaks against sin or about morality, they will be confronted, exposed for their hypocrisy and discredited even if what they say is true. So we can appreciate why the Catholic Church is in the forefront of ridicule by the world. For every scandal that our priests commit is given wide publicity so that no one would believe what the Church is teaching about moral truths. Such scandals seem to happen only in the Roman Catholic Church whilst all other institutions, religious, public, or private are hardly mentioned. This is because the real threat against the world is the Catholic Church, not others, because they do not speak of morality as much as the Church does. So we are being silenced for fear of retaliation by the world.
However, not all of us are like Herodias. Many of us are more like Herod. He was a sinner; his conscience was not numbed as that of Herodias because she was consumed by anger and pride. He wanted to repent but he was a weak man. Indeed, “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.” In truth, if we still like to listen to homilies on sin, it means that most likely, our hearts are still very much with God. It is just that we do not have the will to do the right thing, like Herod. Those who do not like to hear the truth spoken are more like Herodias, simply because they do not want to be reminded of the truth and made to feel guilty, and be upset by the wrongdoings in their life.
So, there is hope. However, we must not act like Herod to the Word of God when it is preached to us. He was such a morally weak man that he allowed his inclination to the sin of lust, power and glory to blind him in making right decisions. How true it is that one sin leads to another. Sin is like cancer. It grows and grows to such a point that we lose sight of what is true and good. Like King Herod who, although was feeling guilty over his adultery with Herodias, was still seeking for the truth. He knew that John the Baptist was speaking the truth, without fear or favour. He had no personal grudge against John the Baptist. But then again when confronted with an impulsive oath that he made before his guests that he would give her daughter anything she asked, even half of his kingdom, he did not object to such an evil request to have the head of John the Baptist. He should have had the moral courage to stand by the truth and not accede to evil. But then, carried away by his pride that clouded his mind, and most likely with the carousing all night, he would have been half drunk when he made the decision, a decision which he would regret throughout the rest of his life.
We, too, will end up like him if we do not heed the Word of God, the voice of our conscience, the truth that is spoken to us by people who genuinely care and love us. We must pray for humility, courage and receptivity to the truth. As for us who are called to speak the truth, St Paul reminds us, “proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.” (2 Tim 4:2) Like Jeremiah, let us brace ourselves for action. “Stand up and tell them all I command you. Do not be dismayed at their presence, or in their presence I will make you dismayed.” Prophets must also be true to their conscience in speaking up.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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