Or maybe it’s Proto-Pelagian Donatistic Expialidocious.
Forgive me that last part. I forgot that Mary Poppins is racist.
<end sarcasm>
INTROIT Ps. 118:46-47 I spoke of Your testimonies before kings, and I was not ashamed; I meditated on Your commandments, which I loved dearly. Ps. 91:2. It is good to praise the Lord, and to sing to Your name, O Most High!
St. John the Baptist is quite a model for us. The Forerunner of Christ has two feasts, the primary being his nativity (24 June), and that of his beheading (today). At his nativity, or rather at the Visitation, God granted John the grace of gestational Baptism, so that he was born without the stain of original sin. At his beheading, John reciprocated this gift with his sacrificial witness to Truth. The reason for his beheading was his intransigence on the commandments, which he loved dearly, because he loved our Lord.
The subject matter in this case was the sanctity of marriage.
“And it hath been said, whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce. But I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, excepting for the cause of fornication, maketh her to commit adultery: and he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery.” Matt 5:31-32
“And there came to him the Pharisees tempting him, and saying: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? Who answering, said to them: Have ye not read, that he who made man from the beginning, made them male and female? And he said: For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. They say to him: Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorce, and to put away? He saith to them: Because Moses by reason of the hardness of your heart permitted you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery.” Matt 19:3-9
“And the Pharisees coming to him asked him: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. But he answering, saith to them: What did Moses command you? Who said: Moses permitted to write a bill of divorce, and to put her away. To whom Jesus answering, said: Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you that precept. But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother; and shall cleave to his wife. And they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. And in the house again his disciples asked him concerning the same thing. And he saith to them: Whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if the wife shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.” Mark 10:2-12
“The law and the prophets were until John; from that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every one useth violence towards it. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fall. Every one that putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and he that marrieth her that is put away from her husband, committeth adultery.” Luke 16:16-18
At that time, Herod himself had sent and apprehended John, and bound him prison for the sake of Herodias the wife of Philip his brother, because he had married her. For John said to Herod: “It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife.” Now Herodias laid snares for him: and was desirous to put him to death and could not. For Herod feared John, knowing him to be a just and holy man: and kept him, and when he heard him, did many things: and he heard him willingly. And when a convenient day was come, Herod made a supper for his birthday, for the princes, and tribunes, and chief men of Galilee.
And when the daughter of the same Herodias had come in, and had
danced, and pleased Herod, and them that were at table with him, the
king said to the damsel: “Ask of me what thou wilt, and I will give it
thee.” And he swore to her: “Whatsoever thou shalt ask I will give
thee, though it be the half of my kingdom.” Who when she was gone out, said to her mother, “What shall I ask?” But her mother said: “The head of John the Baptist.” And when she was come in immediately with haste to the king, she asked, saying: “I will that forthwith thou give me in a dish, the head of John the Baptist.” And the king was struck sad. Yet
because of his oath, and because of them that were with him at table,
he would not displease her: But sending an executioner, he commanded that his head should be brought in a dish. And he beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head in a dish: and gave to the damsel, and the damsel gave it her mother. Which his disciples hearing came, and took his body, and laid it in a tomb. Mark 6:17-29
In the Eastern Church, St. John the Baptist has two more feasts, honoring the First Finding of his Head, and the Second and Third Finding of his Head. (I guess it kept getting lost.) Years ago we named our homeschool “The Second and Third Finding of the Head of St. John the Baptist Homeschool.” Nobody else among our homeschool friends thought of that great name.
Wow!! P O’ Brien, I bet Saint John Baptist appreciated the honor of naming your homeschool after him!
Pray to God one day we will be given the greatest gift of heaven and find out for sure exactly what he thinks!
In the Eastern Rite, there is also the feast of St. John’s conception, on Sept. 23 (?) I think. His martyrdom is considered a fast day – it sounds odd, fasting on a “feast” day but it is meant to express sorrow over his death, as the Forerunner of the Messiah.
Same with the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross – Sept. 14 – a fasting “feast” day, because it brings to mind Good Friday and all that Our Lord suffered for us to redeem us from sin.
P. O’Brien – I read a long and convoluted story about St. John’s head and why it kept getting lost / found. To have several feast days in its honor just shows the ancient veneration of the Holy Forerunner. Yours is a unique homeschool name, for sure! 🙂