Second Reading from the sermons of Saint Bede the Venerable, priest
(Sermon 23): The blessed forerunner of the Lord’s birth, ministry, and death showed such strength in struggle as was precious in the eyes of heaven, as Scripture says: In the sight of men they were punished, but their hope is full of immortality. With full reason we again celebrate his birthday, which by his own suffering he consecrated for us and adorned with the rose-red radiance of his blood. With reason we honor his memory with spiritual joy, for he confirmed the testimony he gave for the Lord with the seal of martyrdom.
There is no reason to doubt that the blessed John had to endure imprisonment and chains as the forerunner and witness of our Savior. John gave his life for his sake, although the persecutor did not demand that he deny Christ, but that he be silent about the truth. Yet John died for Christ. For Christ himself said: I am the truth. Therefore John shed his blood precisely for Christ, when he did so for the sake of truth. By his birth, his preaching, and his baptism he first bore witness to Christ’s birth, preaching, and baptism. By suffering first himself, John also pointed to Christ’s future suffering.
Truly great and powerful was this man, who after long endurance of imprisonment brought his earthly life to an end by shedding his blood. The ungodly put in chains him who preached the freedom of heavenly peace. He was shut in a dark prison, he who had come to bear witness to the light, and whom the Light itself, that is Christ, willed to call a burning and shining lamp. He received baptism in his own blood, he who had been permitted to baptize the Savior of the world, to hear the Father’s voice above him, and to see the grace of the Holy Spirit descending upon him. For a man such as John, it was not displeasing but rather pleasing and desirable to suffer temporal pains for the sake of truth. He knew that they would one day be rewarded with eternal joy.
Death, which by the order of nature was inevitably before him, was to him a welcomed event, since by confessing the name of Christ he could obtain the crown of eternal life. Of this the Apostle says fittingly: It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake. Therefore he counts it as Christ’s gift that the chosen are permitted to suffer for Christ, as he also says: The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Responsory cf. Mark 6:17,27
V. Herod had John arrested, put him in chains, and shut him up in prison.
R. This he did for the sake of Herodias, his brother’s wife, whom he had married.
V. Herod sent an executioner to the prison to behead John there.
R. This he did for the sake of Herodias, his brother’s wife, whom he had married.
Prayer
O God, you willed that Saint John the Baptist should be the forerunner of your Son both in his birth and in his martyrdom. Grant that we too may steadfastly confess the holy truths of our faith, as he with his blood bore witness for the sake of truth and justice. We ask this through …
Image: Saint Bede the Venerable, painting by James Doyle Penrose, 1902.