Friday 5th February, 2010
St Agatha. Day of penance. Ecclesiasticus 47:2-11. Blessed be God my salvation! —Ps 17(18):31, 47, 50-51. Mark 6:14-29.

  
Meditation: mp3 | podcast
Readings: Text | mp3 | podcast

Herodias was furious with him and wanted to kill him.

At the first reading of today’s gospel we may be left wondering why the passage is included in the gospel. Jesus is not mentioned. The incident itself reveals unbridled selfishness and cruelty, and then the lonely death of John the Baptist. However, when we keep in mind the life, the arrest and the death of John, we realise that this prefigures that of Jesus himself: his arrest, the cruelty Jesus suffered at the hands of Herod and Pilate, and his crucifixion.

Today, Lord, we pray for people who bear costly witness to the Gospel and for people who through loneliness and suffering of whatever kind draw strength from their union with you.