29 August, Thursday — Being in Fellowship with our Lord

Aug 29 – Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist

To endure temporal agonies for the sake of the truth was not a heavy burden for such men as John; rather it was easily borne and even desirable, for he knew eternal joy would be his reward. Since death was ever at hand, such men considered it a blessing to embrace it and thus gain the reward of eternal life by acknowledging Christ’s name. Hence the apostle Paul rightly says: “You have been granted the privilege not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for his sake.” He tells us why it is Christ’s gift that His chosen ones should suffer for Him: “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us.”

– from a homily by Saint Bede the Venerable on the death of John the Baptist

1 Cor 1:1-9
Mk 6:17-29

“God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ our Lord”

I have always found today’s Gospel reading to be gruesome and highly disturbing. This is probably exacerbated by the many times that I have encountered highly realistic paintings of the head of John the Baptist on a platter during my travels. But what is most disturbing to me is the fact that the order to behead John the Baptist was given by Herodias, conveyed by her daughter and ultimately executed by Herod.

What a lengthy chain of command for what appears to be a simple order. Was Herodias worried that Herod would not listen to her, and hence sent her daughter to do the task instead? Did the daughter convey the message because she saw it as part of being a filial and dutiful child? And why did Herod decide to go ahead with Herodias’ demand, despite knowing that John the Baptist was a righteous and holy man? What is important to note is that at any point in time, any of them could have said ‘No’. After all, we are talking about the beheading of a man, and not just any other simple task.

Have we also found ourselves in a similar situation? Have there been times when we are asked to carry out a task that may bring harm to someone else or even the environment? Are we able to say ‘no’ in these circumstances? Do we have the courage to do so at the risk of facing ridicule or persecution from others? This is where a line from the first reading gives me much comfort: “God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ our Lord”. When we are persecuted or ridiculed for our faith and beliefs, we are actually in close fellowship with our Lord, who Himself was persecuted by many for our sake.

It is also in our suffering that we enjoy the closest fellowship with Him. This is something that I unfortunately am intimately familiar with, given the many health crises that I have had to face in my life, the latest being a hip and back injury. There are days when every step is agonising, and all I can do is to call out: “Lord help me!” There are days when I am able to sit down and pray. It is in these instances that I find myself in Gethsemane, clinging on to our Lord and weeping alongside Him.

I weep because I cannot begin to imagine the amount of suffering that He had to endure on our behalf. I weep for the times that I had carried out my daily tasks unthinkingly, without Christ in my heart. I weep for the times that I had sinned, leaving Christ out of my life entirely. I weep because I am not able to help alleviate His pain and suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. But perhaps this is all He wanted of us, to sit with Him and weep with Him.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Jacob Woo)

Prayer: Lord, we pray for Your forgiveness, for the times when we have carried on with our lives without keeping You in our hearts. We pray for the courage to be able to carry out Your will in our lives.

Thanksgiving: We thank the Lord for offering us the peace and salvation that none other could offer, a peace and salvation that was won through Your suffering, death and resurrection.