The Honor Of God

Reading 1
1 Cor 1:17-25

Brothers and sisters:
Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel,
and not with the wisdom of human eloquence,
so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
For it is written:

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the learning of the learned I will set aside.

Where is the wise one?
Where is the scribe?
Where is the debater of this age?
Has not God made the wisdom of the world foolish?
For since in the wisdom of God
the world did not come to know God through wisdom,
it was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation
to save those who have faith.
For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
but we proclaim Christ crucified,
a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike,
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom,
and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 10-11

R. (5) The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the tenstringed lyre chant his praises.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
For upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
The LORD brings to nought the plans of nations;
he foils the designs of peoples.
But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
the design of his heart, through all generations.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Gospel
Mk 6:17-29

Herod was the one who had John the Baptist arrested and bound in prison
on account of Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
John had said to Herod,
“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.
She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,
gave a banquet for his courtiers,
his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee.
Herodias’ own daughter came in
and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests.
The king said to the girl,
“Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.”
He even swore many things to her,
“I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
even to half of my kingdom.”
She went out and said to her mother,
“What shall I ask for?”
She replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”
The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request,
“I want you to give me at once
on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was deeply distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.
So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders
to bring back his head.
He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl.
The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Beheading of John the Baptist

Belarusian Icon - 18th Century

Belarusian icon-painting ranks high in Slav culture. The traditions of the Bysantine art, which were assimilated by the culture of Belarusian’s old towns (the 9th - 14th cc.), have been united with the stylistic peculiarities of the West European art - the Renaissance (the 14th - 16th cc.), baroque (late 16th - 18th cc.), classicism (latter half of the 18th c.).

The roots of this phenomenon lie in the originality of historical development of Belarus. Being situated at the juncture of the Latin West and the Orthodox and Union East, Belarus was a part of the Great Duchy of Litwa and Rzechpospolita. In such conditions took place the formation of the Belarusian nation, language, culture. And the icon-painting played a sterling part in this process.

The icon-painting of 15th - 18th century Belarus presents a bright page of Slav peoples’s culture.

This is the difference between us and those who do not know God: they, in adversity, complain and grumble; we , on the other hand, are not drawn away from virtue by the things that go against us but are strengthened in it, for we know even the hairs of our head are numbered.

— St Cyprian

                                            
                                   
                               The Forerunner of Christ

LUKE 7

When the messengers of John had left, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John. “What did you go out to the desert to see–a reed swayed by the wind?

25

Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine garments? Those who dress luxuriously and live sumptuously are found in royal palaces.

26

Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

27

This is the one about whom scripture says: ‘Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, he will prepare your way before you.’

28

I tell you, among those born of women, no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

29

(All the people who listened, including the tax collectors, and who were baptized with the baptism of John, acknowledged the righteousness of God;

30

but the Pharisees and scholars of the law, who were not baptized by him, rejected the plan of God for themselves.)

31

⁹ “Then to what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like?

32

They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’

33

For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’

34

The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’

35

But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

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