Witnessing beyond your comfort zone (HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (BEHEADING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST - AUGUST 29, 2024)
HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (BEHEADING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST - AUGUST 29, 2024) Jer.1:17-19; Ps.71; Mark 6:17:29 Witnessing beyond your comfort zone Today we celebrate the memorial of the passion/beheading of John the Baptist. When we remember that this John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus Christ, we may once again ask that pertinent question: “where is God when bad things happen to good people”. The answer to this question lies in understanding what Divine connection entails. If you are connected to the President, you will most likely never experience poverty. Likewise, if we are connected to Jesus, we will definitely not experience that which Jesus is opposed to: Condemnation. The beheading of John the Baptist was not a condemnation but a spring board into the glory of heaven. St. Mark puts the story of John’s martyrdom between two important events in the mission of Jesus’ disciples: their departure for mission (6:7-13) and their return fr