Remembering the murder of Saint John the Baptist

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Today we remember the murder of Saint John the Baptist. At that time the ruling Herodian class had many complicated marriage entanglements and one notable one was that the ruling king, Herod, had seduced and married his brother's wife. John denounced this as being completely contrary to the moral law and religious teaching. Herod imprisioned him but admired his integrity and often went to talk to him. However Herodias, whom he had married, hated John and wanted to have him killed. She got her opportunity at Herod's birthday feast. Her daughter Salome danced and so pleased Herod that he rashly promised to give her whatever she asked for. The girl consulted her mother who asked for the head of John. Herod was sad but was too weak to say that his prom ise did not include murder and had John  beheaded. 

Far from being past history, we know that many Christians today are being persecuted for their faith in Jesus. We remember the infamous case of Asia Bibi. She was picking fruit in Pakistan in  2009 and had a drink of water from a bucket. Her fellow Muslim workers accused her of contaminating the water and charged her of blasphemy. She was condemned to prison where she remained for 10 years under the threat of death. Her case was taken up by Pope Francis and other world leaders and in 2019, the court finally declared that the accusations against her were false. She was released and was able to go to live in Canada. 

Saudi Arabia is a totally Muslim country but there are over 2 million Christians living there. There are workers from the Philippines, India and Egypt and are forbidden to practise their faith publicly, to have bibles or build churches.They meet secretly to pray and study the word of God which they find online. 

 Recently however there has a slight lifting of restrictions and the first public mass was celebrated by Egyptian Coptics. As we remember the murder of John the Baptist, let us also remember and pray for all those Christians who are forced to practise their faith in secret because otherwise they will be imprisioned or deported from those countries where they are working. At the same time, let us value our freedom and live our faith with joy and enthusiasm.         

Don Hornsey