Jeremiah 1:17-19 / Mark 6:17-29
The life of St. John the Baptist is indeed very dramatic. Even in his mother's womb, he leapt when Mary greeted Elizabeth at the Visitation.
At his birth, there was this amazing occasion of the choice of his name which restored the power of speech of his father Zechariah, and which also left the astonished neighbours wondering what would he grow to be.
His appearance at the river Jordan preaching repentance and baptising people earned him the reputation of "the Baptist" and he even baptised Jesus.
He had an illustrious ministry. Yet in essence, St. John the Baptist was a prophet and his greatest deed as a prophet was to point out Jesus as the Lamb of God.
And as a prophet, he had to fulfil his mission by proclaiming the ways of the Lord and pointing out sin and evil and calling for repentance and conversion.
For that St. John the Baptist paid the price when he pointed out Herod's sin, and for that he was captured and imprisoned in Herod's fortress.
If his life was dramatic and illustrious, his death was equally dramatic, although it was also very gruesome.
His death by beheading revealed the characters of Herod, Herodias, her daughter, and also all the guests present, who did nothing and said nothing to stop the heinous act.
For a great prophet like St. John the Baptist who had such a dramatic and illustrious life and ministry, his death seemed so humiliating.
Yet, today, we the Church honour him. Over and above all else, we honour him for his faithfulness to God and for his courage to accept and fulfil the mission of being God's prophet.
Even for us, in all the drama of life, the spills and the thrills, or even in the mundane and the monotony, what counts for us will be our faithfulness to God.
Because in the end, it is our faithfulness to God that mattered. It mattered to St. John the Baptist. It also mattered to God.