The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to speak truth to the powerful modern day tyrants that act with a self interest that threatens the life and liberty of others.
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The reading from the Letter to the Hebrews exhorts us to morality and service that is well-pleasing to God.
* [13:1–16] After recommendations on social and moral matters (Heb 13:1–6), the letter turns to doctrinal issues. The fact that the original leaders are dead should not cause the recipients of this letter to lose their faith (Heb 13:7), for Christ still lives and he remains always the same (Heb 13:8). They must not rely for their personal sanctification on regulations concerning foods (Heb 13:9), nor should they entertain the notion that Judaism and Christianity can be intermingled (Heb 13:10; cf. notes on Gal 2:11–14; 2:15–21). As Jesus died separated from his own people, so must the Christian community remain apart from the religious doctrines of Judaism (Heb 13:11–14). Christ must be the heart and center of the community (Heb 13:15–16). (Hebrews, CHAPTER 13 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 27 is a triumphant Song of Confidence.
* [Psalm 27] Tradition has handed down the two sections of the Psalm (Ps 27:1–6; 7–14) as one Psalm, though each part could be understood as complete in itself. Asserting boundless hope that God will bring rescue (Ps 27:1–3), the psalmist longs for the presence of God in the Temple, protection from all enemies (Ps 27:4–6). In part B there is a clear shift in tone (Ps 27:7–12); the climax of the poem comes with “I believe” (Ps 27:13), echoing “I trust” (Ps 27:3). (Psalms, PSALM 27 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Gospel of Mark presents the Death of John the Baptist.
* [6:17–29] Similarities are to be noted between Mark’s account of the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist in this pericope, and that of the passion of Jesus (Mk 15:1–47). Herod and Pilate, each in turn, acknowledges the holiness of life of one over whom he unjustly exercises the power of condemnation and death (Mk 6:26–27; 15:9–10, 14–15). The hatred of Herodias toward John parallels that of the Jewish leaders toward Jesus. After the deaths of John and of Jesus, well-disposed persons request the bodies of the victims of Herod and of Pilate in turn to give them respectful burial (Mk 6:29; 15:45–46).
* [6:19] Herodias: see note on Mt 14:3. (Mark, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB, n.d.)
Maureen McCann Waldron comments that Herod had ignored the part of his heart that John was able to touch - the truth about his life.
We all have those nagging prophets in our lives, people who want to confront us with a truth we don't want to hear; people whose words put a gnawing in our stomachs as we redouble our efforts to ignore them; or sometimes simply messages we simply don't want to listen to. Why can't they just leave us alone to live our lives? Why do they keep pushing at us about justice, hunger, living simply, drinking less? Who are the prophets in our lives who tell us it isn't enough to go to Church on Sundays if we are not cherishing our vows and our spouses? How much do we want to ignore those who suggest we need a balance in our family lives or the person who tells us that our jobs should not be the center of our lives? What are the prophetic messages we are not listening to?
Today's gospel isn't about Herod - it's about ourselves. Who stands at the edge of our lives, pushing, nagging and confronting us with a truth we don't want to hear? What is the invitation for us today? (McCann Waldron, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “The Weakness of the Tyrant and the Power of the Beheaded,” by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD).
"Note well the weakness of the tyrant compared to the power of the one in prison. Herod was not strong enough to silence his own tongue. Having opened it, he opened up countless other mouths in its place and with its help. As for John, he immediately inspired fear in Herod after his murder - for fear was disturbing Herod's conscience to such an extent that he believed John had been raised from the dead and was performing miracles (Mark 6:14-16)! In our own day and through all future time, throughout all the world, John continues to refute Herod, both through himself and through others. For each person repeatedly reading this Gospel says: 'It is not lawful for you to have the wife of Philip your brother' (Mark 6:18). And even apart from reading the Gospel, in assemblies and meetings at home or in the market, in every place... even to the very ends of the earth, you will hear this voice and see that righteous man even now still crying out, resounding loudly, reproving the evil of the tyrant. He will never be silenced nor the reproof at all weakened by the passing of time." (excerpt from ON THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD 22.8-9) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Hebrews 13:1-8 comments that today’s passage reminds us that we—whether in prison or not—are all brothers and sisters in Christ. We belong to one another, and together we make up the body of Christ. So let’s consider how we can deepen our understanding of how we are all one in Christ and then put it into action.
If you’re “on the outside,” let these simple exercises deepen your compassion for your incarcerated brothers and sisters. Set some time aside to pray especially for them. And if you’re “on the inside,” pray for those on the inside with you. Look into connecting with organizations like Kairos, which foster a deep and life-changing encounter with Jesus. Let’s all “be mindful of prisoners,” because we are all one family!
“Lord, mold my heart to have greater compassion for my brothers and sisters living behind bars.” (Meditation on Hebrews 13:1-8, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the things we need to live a life of virtue in trust and faith that are cited in the parenesis at the end of Hebrews. The greater reality beyond what can be seen is evidenced in the martyrdom of John the Baptist. Friar Jude mentions several locations of the “head of the Baptist” relic that remind us to take some claims with a grain of salt.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces author and podcaster Cassidy Hall who suggests that we might use the word “queer” to describe the strange, out-of-the-box ways of thinking and acting that characterized many of the prophets.
Thomas Merton wrote that in order to know or understand the will of the Divine, “we have to participate, in some manner, in the vision of the prophets: [people] who were always alive to the divine light concealed in the opacity of things and events, and who sometimes saw glimpses of that light where other [people] saw nothing but ordinary happenings.” [1]
Where, I wonder, are the ordinary happenings I am passing over for the sake of my own comfort, ease, or control? We need not only look to the margins—the outcasts of society—but we also look to those who make us uncomfortable, those we might be avoiding, and the issues we might rather opt out of, because when we queer prophecy, we release a need to know or name and instead engage more closely with prophetic values and Spirit’s movement in our midst. (Rohr, n.d.)
We ponder the consequences of living to the standards in the parenesis of Hebrews and seek the power of the Spirit as we come into confrontation with the tyrants of our time.
References
Hebrews, CHAPTER 13 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved February 7, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/hebrews/13?1
Mark, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved February 7, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/6?14
McCann Waldron, M. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. Creighton University's Online Ministries. from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/020725.html
Meditation on Hebrews 13:1-8. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved February 7, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/02/07/1196985/
Psalms, PSALM 27 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved February 7, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/27?1
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Look to the Margins. CAC Daily Meditations. Retrieved February 7, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/look-to-the-margins/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Herod's Guilty Conscience. Daily Scripture net. Retrieved February 7, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=feb7
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