St. John the Baptist. Fragment. Alvise Vivarini, 1475
Once Jerusalem and all Judea were astir with the news that a new prophet had appeared, never before seen, and frightening. This man called out to the crowd around him, “Repent!” The unrighteous in their fright said to the prophet, “Do you want us to give you gold? Just shut up, you’re wounding us, it’s like our consciences are gnawing at us.” “I don’t need gold, you generation of vipers,” the prophet answered. “I have what is more precious than gold.” The righteous also came to John and said, “Do you want us to give you gold for the lessons you have given us on how to be righteous?” John replied, “I am living and speaking with you, brothers, for your own sakes, and not for the sake of your gold. I don’t need it.” And so rumors were spread about John that he knows no fear and spares no one. And John even reproached the iniquity of Herodias, Herods’ wife. She too sent him gold, but the prophet wrathfully rejected the dirty adulteress’s gold.
John’s refusal brought Herodias to a state of demonic madness, and she was enflamed with the thirst for revenge. For the sake of the pleasures to which she was accustomed from her very infancy, she was capable of anything if only it would indulge her lust; she was ready to bring everything as sacrifice to this idol, and put everything in its service. “Pleasures, and only pleasures!” exclaimed Herodias. “Righteousness, and only righteousness!” John would not stop saying. And so their collision was inevitable…
Every day, brothers and sisters, we are witnesses to the dramas that happen when the thirst for pleasure encounters the search for truth and righteousness, like the drama in Herod’s court; albeit much less powerful in their tragedy. Our dramas are played out not only in houses and on the streets, but also in our souls, within ourselves. The majority of us basically are a mixture of the spirit of John and the spirit of Herodias. In most of us, the thirst for pleasure always wars with our striving for righteousness and truth. This throws us into all sorts of extremes and tears our hearts and souls to the point of pain. Let us then pray to God: “O God, Thou sawest the drama of St. John the Baptist in Herod’s court. Thou dost look even this day upon us with Thy gaze. Give us therefore the strength to conquer the spirit of Herodias in ourselves, so that we might follow the example of Thy righteous one. Lead us, O God, out of error whenever our blood clouds our reason. Let the thought of Thee, O great God, always dispel the darkness of our life’s dramas. Amen.”
