The Holy Myrrhbearer and Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene; Return of the Relics of the Hieromartyr Phocas.
1 Corinthians 6:20-7:12; Matthew 14:1-13.
Read Matthew 14:1-13
John the Baptist was ultimately imprisoned and put to death for speaking the truth regarding Herod’s unlawful relationship with Herodias, Herod’s sister-in-law. Herodias prompted her daughter to request the head of John to be delivered to her on a platter as a reward for dancing at Herod’s birthday party. At Great Vespers on the Feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist, we sing this sticheron:
Again Herodias has lost her self-control; again she is disturbed. What a cunning and deceiving dance, and what mindless drunkenness! The Forerunner’s head is cut off and Herod is troubled. Therefore, O Lord, by the intercessions of your Forerunner, grant peace to our souls.
Herodias exercised no self-control. Herod and Herodias were both controlled by their satanic passion of lust which led them into adultery, and then Herodias’s pride and anger further led her to seek the murder of John of the Baptist.
Do we exercise self-control, or are we slaves to the passions of lust, of greed, of slothfulness, of gluttony, of anger, of pride, of despondency? John the Baptist lived a holy life of asceticism in the wilderness, striving to conquer these passions. He was bold enough to speak the truth, even to those in authority. Let us strive today to imitate him and not Herod or Herodias.