One Minute Reflection – 29 August – The Beheading of St John the Baptist
She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”…Mark 6:24
REFLECTION – “O great and admirable mystery! He must increase, but I must decrease, said John, said the voice which personified all the voices that had gone before announcing the Father’s Word Incarnate in His Christ…. But He is said to grow in us, when we grow in Him. To him, then, who draws near to Christ, to him who makes progress in the contemplation of wisdom, words are of little use; of necessity they tend to fail altogether. Thus the ministry of the voice falls short in proportion as the soul progresses towards the Word; it is thus that Christ must increase and John decrease. The same is indicated by the beheading of John and the exaltation of Christ upon the Cross; as it had already been shown by their birthdays: for, from the birth of John the days begin to shorten and from the birth of Our Lord they begin to grow longer.”….St Augustine (354-420)
PRAYER – God our Father, You appointed St John The Baptist to be the herald of the birth and death of Christ Your Son. Grant that as he died a martyr for justice and truth, so we may also courageously bear witness to Your Word. St John the Baptist, pray for us, amen.
AnaStpaul 