Abbey-Roads2

Herod and the martyrdom of the Baptist.

The Gospel tells us Herod feared John, “knowing him to be a righteous and holy man.”  Which suggests that he had a great respect for the prophet as well.  We are told “When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him.”  Thus we know Herod admired John, and loved to listen to his preaching, perhaps enthralled with his wisdom and inspired by his spirituality.  Herod obviously liked the study of theology and religion.  Nevertheless, his conscience must have been uneasy at some of what John taught, and not just with the reprimand John gave as regards Herod’s adultery.  It seems to me if Herod had not been in an irregular relationship condemned by John, he perhaps would have been one of John’s converts. 

Obviously it was his self-indulgence and worldly cares that got the better of him, despite his liking for religious things and his brand of  idiorhythmic spirituality.  A man ruled by his lusts, anxious for the respect of men, he beheaded the Baptist because of a rash promise.  He eliminated his adversary.  Imprisoning John couldn’t silence him, or reverse the condemnation of Herod’s inordinate affections - it couldn’t change the fact that Herod was publicly living a sinful life.  Herod couldn’t amend God’s law.  The martyrdom of John verified the Truth even more explicitly, and revealed how debauched and pathetic the deluded Herod really was.  With the Baptist gone, Herod’s adultery went unchallenged, and a false freedom of conscience reigned in his court.

Compromise.

Today we have Catholics - many of whom are  out and out ‘dissidents’, who have the form of religion - in fact they love religion, theology and spirituality, with all the degrees to prove it - yet Church teaching and authority gets in the way of their lifestyle or agenda.  Their power is not absolute - so they can’t behead anyone who contradicts them.  Instead they work to twist the truth, preserving elements of what ‘works’ for their purposes, and strive to justify their immorality through compromise.

The preaching of John the Baptist, the message of Christ and the Gospel, now transmitted through the Church, is a call to repentance and conversion.  It isn’t an affirmation of sinful lifestyles and habits at variance with Natural Law and the Commandments.  We as individuals are called to change our lives, we cannot change God or His Law to suit ourselves.  No matter how intricate our theology, how enlightened our spirituality, or how much we enjoy liturgy and religious things, there is an obedience we owe to God, without regard to human respect.

Impenitence.

I find it interesting that Herod continued to be fascinated by religion after the death of John, which is demonstrated by his curiosity about Jesus.  He was anxious to see Jesus after Pilot sent the Lord to him during the Passion.  He was hoping to see some miracle.  Yet the blood of John sealed his heart in impenitence, and he was unable to recognize Christ - he couldn’t perceive even a glimmer of Christ’s holiness.  It is kind of frightening.

Some people love religion, without loving the Truth.