Look Up
“I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
Today’s Gospel is a tough one - it’s a little discouraging for the average Christian. Let’s be real - who fantasizes about getting their head chopped off and brought out on a platter to their jailer? No one. No one mentally stable really wants their head chopped off.
And yet. And yet, John the Baptist is a beacon of faith for us. He prepares the way for the Lord, he baptizes Jesus, and he chooses to love Herod despite the hardness of Herod’s heart. John did not have his eyes on this world.
John was looking up.
John kept his eyes focused on higher things. John kept his eyes trained on the mission to which God had called him. His priority wasn’t caring for himself; his priority was following the will of God. His eyes were fixed on the One who can change things - instead of his jail cell, instead of his circumstances.
Sisters, our jail cells might look different than John’s: we might be stuck in sin or trapped in an impossible situation or caught up in discouragement about our vocation or locked into a job we hate. But we can look up. In today’s Gospel, it might look like John died that day, but he didn’t. He rose when Jesus claimed the victory because he kept his eyes trained on the Father. So look up - because Jesus came to save you, too.
Father,
Thank You for the witness of St. John the Baptist. Thank You for the hope that he exemplifies. Thank You for saving him and for fighting and winning our battles.
God, please teach us how to keep our eyes trained on You the way that John did. Show us how to watch You and Your plans than all the things happening around us and all the unfortunate circumstances of life.
Father, we love You. Help us to focus our gaze on You. Amen.