GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 29TH AUGUST 2017
MEMORIAL OF THE BEHEADING OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST
FIRST READING: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
PSALM: Psalm 139: 1-6
GOSPEL: Mark 6:17-29
THEME: TRUTH
Truth is very expensive. Many are unable to tolerate it, let alone pay the price for it. It is a bitter pill and yet the only medicine that can heal the soul of its ailment.
In the life of John the Baptist, one observes that truth is not a theory based on philosophical arguments but an experience to be lived. In Bethany, across the Jordan, when John was asked the question, “Who are you?”, he spoke the truth and said, “I am not the Messiah…I am the voice of one crying out in the desert…” (cf. Jn 1: 19-28). Standing with two of his disciples, he spoke the truth to them and said, “Look there is the lamb of God”, and the two disciples left him and followed Jesus (cf. Jn. 1:35ff). Even his outward appearance was symbolic of the truth he stood for (cf. Mk. 1:4ff).
In today’s Gospel text, John paid the ultimate price for the truth. Faithful to the teaching of the Jewish Law (Leviticus 18:16; 20:21), he told Herod: “It is against the Law for you to have Herodias, your brother Philip’s wife…” The price for this piece of truth was his head on a dish.
Many in our world today, in an attempt to save their faces from spittle, choose to hide the truth and yet it is this very truth that saves not just one’s face but one’s whole being. Hiding the truth is a tedious job that comes with no salary. It may appear to give momentary allowances but in the end it enslaves.
Many people talk about truth but few are willing to stand up for it. It is true that standing up for the truth in our world today may cost one a lot, but as people of faith, we are called upon to be the conscience of a world that is gradually losing its conscience.
There is an Akan proverb that says, “Truth is one”. In other words, we can give our subjective views about something but the truth of the matter will remain objective.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, make me a witness of truth and if it pleases you a martyr of it. Amen
Andrews Obeng, svd
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)
“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people” (St. Arnold Janssen).