Monday August 29 2011
Memorial of the Martyrdom of St John the Baptist
Official Readings available at http://www.usccb.org/bible/

1 Thessalonians 4:12-17 (13-18 NAB)
Haydock New Testament

And we will not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that are asleep, that you be not sorrowful, even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, even so them who have slept through Jesus, God will bring with him. For this we say unto you in the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them, who have slept.

For the Lord himself shall come down from heaven with commandment,[1] and with the voice of an Archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead, who are in Christ,[2] shall rise first.[3] Then we who are alive, who are left, shall be taken up together with them in the clouds, to meet Christ, in the air, and so shall we be always with the Lord. Wherefore comfort ye one another with these words.

Psalm 95:1, 3-5, 11-13 (Ps 96 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle:
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Declare his glory among the Gentiles:
his wonders among all people.
For the Lord is great, and exceedingly to be praised:
he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils:
but the Lord made the heavens.
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad,
let the sea be moved, and the fulness thereof:
The fields and all things that are in them shall be joyful.
Then shall all the trees of the woods rejoice
before the face of the Lord, because he cometh:
because he cometh to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with justice,
and the people with his truth.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Mark 6:17-29
Haydock New Testament

For Herod himself had sent and apprehended John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, the wife of Philip, his brother, because he had married her. For John said to Herod:

It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife.

The Daughter of Herodias Dancing

Now Herodias laid snares for him: and was desirous to put him to death, and could not. For Herod feared John,[4] knowing him to be a just and holy man: and kept him, and when he heard him, did many things: and he heard him willingly. And when a convenient day was come, Herod made a supper for his birthday, for the princes, and tribunes, and chief men of Galilee. And when the daughter of the same Herodias had come in, and had danced, and pleased Herod, and them that were at table with him, the king said to the damsel:

Ask of me what thou wilt, and I will give it thee.

And he swore to her:

Whatsoever thou shalt ask I will give thee, though it be the half of my kingdom.

Who when she was gone out, said to her mother:

What shall I ask?

But she said:

The head of John the Baptist.

And when she was come in immediately with haste to the king, she asked, saying:

The Head of Saint John the Baptist on a Charger

I will that forthwith thou give me in a dish the head of John the Baptist.

And the king was struck sad: yet because of his oath, and because of them that were with him at table, he would not displease her:[5] But sending an executioner, he commanded that his head should be brought in a dish.  And he beheaded him in the prison, And brought his head in a dish; and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.

Which his disciples hearing, came, and took his body: and laid it in a tomb.[6]

Footnotes    (↵ returns to text)
  1. With commandment.[3]  God’s command will in a moment raise and bring all to judgment.↵
  2. And the dead, who are in Christ, in the grace of Christ, shall rise first, not as to time, but in dignity.  Wi.↵
  3. Shall rise first.  Not in order of time, for all shall rise in the twinkling of an eye, but first in order of dignity.  S. Chrysostom, however, thinks that the elect rise before the reprobate, to go before the Lord; whereas the latter shall come behind him, only to appear before the tribunal of justice.  S. Chrys.↵
  4. Herod,[2] &c. The sense both of the Latin and Greek text seems to be, that Herod entertained and shewed a particular respect and value for John the Baptist: yet some expound it, that he had a watchful eye over him, and sought only for an occasion to take him off.  Wi.↵
  5. It is customary, in Scripture, to give the generally prevailing sentiment at the time; thus Joseph is called by the blessed Virgin , the father of Jesus; so now Herod is said to be stricken with sadness, because he appeared to be so to the company at table, though within his own breast, he secretly rejoiced that he had an opportunity of destroying an importuning monitor, with an exterior shew of piety and honour.  Ven. Bede.↵
  6. Church history informs us, that the Christians were accustomed to frequent this tomb with great piety and respect, till the reign of Julian the apostate, at which time the pagans, through hatred for Christianity, broke open his tomb, and dispersed his bones; but immediately after, thinking it better to burn them, they endeavoured to collect them again.  But some religious of a neighbouring convent, joining themselves to the pagans, under pretence of collecting the bones to burn, secreted the greater part of them, and sent them to Philip, at Jerusalem, who sent them to Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria; and in the reign of Theodosius, the temple of Serapis was converted into a Christian church, and dedicated to the honour of S. John the Baptist, where his relics were deposited.  Gloss. Ordina.↵

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