August 29th - The Passion of St. John the Baptist

As summer winds down, we hear the crickets chirping and will soon hear the honking of geese as they fly south for the winter. And, yes we have less than one month of summer left as September 23 will be the first day of autumn, and you will hear some meteorologists telling you that meteorological autumn begins September 1st. I like the September 23rd date better myself!

Remember back in June when we celebrated the beginning of summer and on June 24th the birth of St. John the Baptist? And remember he grew up to announce the arrival of Jesus as the Messiah. Well in August at the end of the summer we recognize the death of St. John the Baptist. He was thrown into prison by King Herod and then murdered under King Herod’s orders. This story is told to us in the Gospel of John, chapter 6.

For us his death is a tragedy and we observe the day as one of sorrow. The saddest part of this story is that for King Herod and his court the beheading of John the Baptist was nothing more than a lark, one that gave great entertainment to the partiers but in the end was a loss for all of those that John touched. Since we remember this anniversary of John’s death as a day of sorrow we can observe it by eating simply, maybe not eating between meals or skipping a dessert. We could also take a break from technology for the day. There are lots of ways we can show our respect for the cousin of Jesus who went before him proclaiming him as the Messiah.

Often, people who are sad do not feel like eating. By fasting as suggested in the previous paragraph we can be in union with those who may be feeling sad about something in their lives right now. What do you do when you are feeling sad? Can you think of ways that you could help someone you know who is feeling sad? Sometimes all it takes to lift someone spirits is a phone call or a visit. And there may be times when just sitting with the person in silence will be enough, they know you are there and that you care about them.

Remember, Jesus tells us, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” You could be the one who is doing the comforting today and tommorrow someone may comfort you.