August 29: The Beheading of St. John the Baptist

This article will begin a series this week on a topic that is very personal to me—divorce and remarriage.  As a child from divorced parents, my life has been affected in ways that seldom are addressed.  The story of the Martyrdom of John the Baptist is a perfect way to begin this discussion.

St. John reproached Herod with his unlawful union.  The adulterous Herodias and her shameless daughter Salome forced Herod to behead the Precursor.  The Gospel of the Mass describes his martyrdom.

            St. John the Baptist is often called the Precursor or the Forerunner.  He is given these titles to illustrate that St. John was designed by God to prepare the people for the coming of Our Lord.  He was freed from original sin while still in his mother’s womb and he lived a perfectly sinless life.  He lived an austere life in the desert but spent his time preaching of the need for repentance for the Israelites, and preparation for the coming of the Messiah.  He especially became noted for baptizing people in the River Jordan.  The more he baptized, the more people came to hear him preach, and the more attention he drew to himself.  He didn’t mince words and he was never hesitant to chastise sinners for their behavior.  Many people loved him and listened to him.  He was, as his title suggests, the one who prepared the way for Our Lord.

            We know from Scripture that St. John the Baptist and Jesus were preaching and teaching during the same time.  We also know, from that same Scripture, that St. John was filled with great humility and was quick to point out that he was not the Christ.  In fact, sinless though he was, he didn’t find himself worthy to remove the sandals from Our Lord’s feet.  Perhaps because of his humility and honesty, St. John attracted a large number of followers.  As he traveled, people came to him to be baptized and to hear him preach.  One of those people who apparently was fascinated with St. John’s preaching was the son of Herod the Great, Herod Antipas.

            This King Herod was as vile and immoral as his father.  He lived a life of debauchery and self-satisfaction.  He displayed his wickedness and sin out in the open for everyone to see.  He was shameless.  At this time, King Herod had a wife, the daughter of the King of Arabia.  While they had married probably for political reasons, she was his lawful wife, nonetheless.  But upon one of his visits to Rome, Herod fell in love with his niece, Herodias, who was also the wife of his younger brother.  They engaged in an adulterous affair, and eventually Herod divorced his wife and brought his concubine to Galilee.  As if this weren’t scandalous enough, his concubine had a daughter Salome, who was both wicked and shameful.

            When Herod continued to flaunt his new “wife” around, St. John the Baptist refused to be silent.  He admonished King Herod for his behavior, by reminding him that divorcing his wife was sinful, unlawful, and unacceptable.  He encouraged him to repent and discharge the wicked, adulterous Herodias back to Rome.  But because neither Herod nor Herodias wished to be chastised or repent, Herod had St. John imprisoned.  He wanted to have St. John executed right away but he was afraid that killing St. John might cause a revolt among his followers.  Herod knew that St. John was an honest and upright man and that he had no reason, other than selfish pride, to kill him.   Herodias, however, was to have her way and her revenge.

            For his birthday, King Herod planned a grand feast and festival.  All the princes, judges, officials, and important people of Galilee attended.  There was plenty of drinking, eating, and dancing.  The shameful Salome, niece and stepdaughter of King Herod, danced erotically for her King.  Because he was so entranced and mesmerized by Salome, Herod promised he would give her anything as a reward for his pleasure.  On advice from her evil mother, Salome requested the head of St. John the Baptist.  Since King Herod didn’t want to disgrace himself, since he preferred his own lawlessness and sinfulness to that of God’s laws, he ordered that St. John be executed in his prison cell.  St. John’s head was then brought as a gift to the wretched and disgraceful Salome who in turn handed it to her evil and hateful mother, Herodius who mockingly threw his head out with the garbage.  When St. John’s disciples heard the news, they came immediately to retrieve his body and buried him in a tomb. 

            According to Tradition, St. John’s head was found and retrieved by the wife of one of Herod’s officers.  St. Joanna took his head and buried it on the Mount of Olives where it remained hidden for centuries.  His head was found in the 5^th century but hidden again to protect it from Muslim invaders.  It was found again 400 years later and was transferred to Constantinople.

            St. John the Baptist was killed because he condemned Herod’s actions of divorcing his wife and marrying his lover.  The Catholic Church has countless numbers of martyrs who have also died condemning such.  St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More were both martyred for refusing to accept the English King Henry VIII’s divorce of Catherine of Aragon.  In French history, King Robert was excommunicated for divorcing his wife Susannah to marry his lover, Bertha. 

The Catholic Church has consistently taught that divorce and remarriage is always unlawful and sinful.  As such, it is never permitted.  (In some cases annulments are issued, which I will address later this week.)  Protestants, persons of other religions, and secular people adhere to the idea that a marriage can be dissolved in certain circumstances.  This idea, however, has brought a tremendous evil onto society.  Currently, modern society is facing an epidemic of incredible magnitude.  The family has been totally broken apart.  Many men and women are on their 2^nd, 3^rd, or 4^th marriages.  There are children from each of these partnerships that live in a constant state of confusion.  Plenty of children don’t know their mothers or fathers and have siblings they will never meet.  These children are all but abandoned and often times have to make their own way in the world, without any real guidance or support. 

I grew up in one such environment.  This week I am going to be like St. John the Baptist.  I am going to bring divorce out into the Light and condemn it.  I am certain that I will share a similar fate with the great St. John. 

St. John the Baptist, pray for us, that we have your humility when we approach Our Lord.

St. John the Baptist, pray for us, that we may have the courage to condemn the evils in our society, regardless of the cost.


St. John the Baptist, pray for us, that divorced people or people considering divorce have the courage to reconcile.

August 8: St. John Mary Vianney—Patron of Priests

The Cure d'Ars was born at Dardilly, near Lyons, France in 1786. The sanctity of St. John Vianney gives to the obscure village of Ars a universal fame. As parish priest he converted sinners and directed souls, not only those of his own flock, but people of all nations and conditions who came to consult this spiritual director. He died on August 4, 1859 and was canonized in 1925.

The following blog post about St. John Vianney is recorded from a book report that our 4^th grader wrote this year about the beloved St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney.

    A priest with a kind heart can help people who have lost their faith return to God. In the 1800s just after the French Revolution, the people of France had lost their faith in God. A young priest named Jean-Marie Vianney helped to bring the people of the town of Ars back to the Church. In The Cure of Ars: The Priest Who Out-Talked the Devil, by Milton Lomask, St. Jean Vianney showed his love for the priesthood and kindness to everyone he knew.

    Many times in his life, Jean Vianney showed his love for the priesthood. When he was eight years old, priests came to his house in secret and fear. He helped his mother care for them and he talked to them. He wanted to become a priest. Because Jean Vianney was a slow learner, it was very hard for him to become a priest. It took him two tries to pass his test. When he finally became a priest, he only wanted to serve God as best he could. Once he stayed in the confessional for 12 hours so that everyone in the town could receive the Sacrament.

    Once he became a priest, St. Jean Vianney showed his kindness to everyone he knew. The other priests in the town were jealous of Jean Vianney and they wrote cruel letters to him, especially about hearing everyone's confessions. Instead of getting angry, he replied to each letter with kindness. He tried to think of others first before his own needs. When he learned about the orphans in Ars, he used his inheritance to build an orphanage and a school.

    St. Jean Vianney changed the hearts of the people in Ars. His love for the priesthood and his kindness brought many people back to God. Jean Vianney helped the people understand how much they needed the Sacraments. He also showed them how much God loved and cared for them. Because he was such a good, humble, and kind priest, the Church made St. Jean Vianney the Patron saint of priests.

I would like to add some comments of my own.

    St. John Vianney was not ordained a priest until he was aged 30. He was thought by his superiors to be completely incompetent. However, God bestowed him with a great many spiritual gifts, including the gift of healing and the ability to read the hearts of his penitents. It was for this latter reason that his reputation spread as the most gracious of all confessors. Men, women, and children came from all over France to his confessional. Many times his fellow priests chastised St. John Vianney for overstepping his bounds. Each time he humbly admitted his fault, but he continued to hear the confessions of all who approached him.

    His life was spent in great suffering every day. Each night St. John Vianney was allowed only two hours of sleep, as he was tormented by the devil. The devil assaulted him with deafening noises, insults, and physical abuse. Occasionally, the members of the parish witnessed such events but St. John merely brushed them off as sufferings he must endure for Our Lord. He often joked that he could "out-talk" the devil.

    On August 4, 1859, St. John Vianney died peacefully in his sleep. Pending his beatification in 1904, St. John Vianney's body was exhumed and found to be completely incorrupt except for the normal blackening of the skin. His body lies on display above the main altar in the Basilica in Ars, France.

    In 1925, the priest with learning difficulties and who was considered incompetent was declared Patron saint of parish priests.

    Currently, the modern Catholic Church is facing a crisis in the priesthood. Parishes are closing down and consolidating because there are very few priests compared to parishioners. Over half the priests in the priesthood in the United States are over 70 and approaching retirement age. Sadly, many of the priests we do have, have brought great scandal to the Church because of their abuses on children or other corruptions. I could include a long list of priests who have committed suicide, looted the coffers of their parishes, spent months in alcohol or drug treatment programs, or worse. I hope, later, to continue this blog on the priesthood—what it is and how it has changed in the Church since Vatican II.  

St. John Vianney, pray for our priests, that when they are tormented by the devil, they have the will to endure the suffering.

St. John Vianney, pray for us, that we may always have a penitent heart and a good confessor.