August 1
Saint Alphonsus Liguori
Gospel: Matthew 14:1-12
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Today's Gospel: Matthew 14:1-12 (Death of John The Baptist)
“At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the
fame of Jesus; and he said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist, he
has been raised from the dead; that is why these powers are at work in
him." For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison, for
the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; because John said to him,
"It is not lawful for you to have her." And though he wanted to put
him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. But
when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company,
and pleased Herod, so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she
might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, "Give me the head of John the
Baptist here on a platter." And the king was sorry; but because of his
oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given; he sent and had John beheaded
in the prison, and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and
she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came and took the body and
buried it; and they went and told Jesus.
”Reflection:
Herod hears about Jesus and his conscience won't
let him rest. He's convinced this must be John the Baptist raised from the dead,
the man Herod himself had beheaded, because a promise made in the presence of
others mattered more to him than a prophet's life. Herod knew John was
righteous. He'd even liked listening to him. But when the moment came to choose
between looking weak in front of his guests and doing the right thing, he chose
worldly acceptance.
Saint Alphonsus spent his whole life as the opposite of that story. He was a
lawyer before he was a priest, brilliant enough to win nearly every case he
argued, until the day he lost one over a technicality he'd missed and walked
out of the courtroom humiliated. That humiliation broke something open in him.
He gave up the law and gave everything to preaching the Gospel to poor people
nobody else wanted to bother with, writing and confessing and teaching for
decades, bent nearly in half by arthritis toward the end of his life. He never
once traded the truth for comfort.
It's worth remembering that Our Lady never had Herod's problem. She never once
calculated what a “yes” to God would cost her socially. Alphonsus leaned on her
constantly; some of his most famous writings is in her honor. He understood
that the woman who said yes without hesitation is the safest teacher for anyone
trying to say yes without flinching.
You will have your own version of Herod's party, a moment where telling the
truth costs you a friendship, a reputation, a seat at the table. Alphonsus and
the Blessed Mother he leaned on are proof that the moment you're afraid of is
usually the one your whole life was leading up to.
What table are you afraid to lose your seat at, if it meant finally telling
the truth? Does the worldly acceptance you desire mean more to you than your
love for Jesus?
Rosary Man
Jim 🌹
Freely
given. Freely shared.
