17TH SATURDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Gospel (Matthew 14:1-12) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

“Herod had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who took it to her mother.” (Mt 14:10-11)

FIRST READING - Lev 25:1.8-17

"In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to their own property."

A reading from the Book of Leviticus

The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, ⁸ “‘Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. ⁹ Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. ¹⁰ Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan. ¹¹ The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. ¹² For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields.

¹³ “‘In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to their own property.

¹⁴ “‘If you sell land to any of your own people or buy land from them, do not take advantage of each other. ¹⁵ You are to buy from your own people on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee. And they are to sell to you on the basis of the number of years left for harvesting crops. ¹⁶ When the years are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price, because what is really being sold to you is the number of crops. ¹⁷ Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the Lord your God.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Mt 14:1-12

"The king had John beheaded in the prison. John’s disciples then they went and told Jesus."

✠From the Gospel according to Matthew

14 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, ² and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

³ Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, ⁴ for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.

⁶ On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much ⁷ that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹ The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted ¹⁰ and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. ¹² John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

17TH SATURDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Gospel (Matthew 14:1-12)

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear People of God,

The Word of God in today’s Gospel recounts the story of King Herod. Because he kept a promise made to the daughter of Herodias—who had committed adultery with him—he ordered the beheading of John the Baptist. Through this account, Jesus reminds us not to seek worldly status or fame, and not to be deceived by the desires and pleasures of this life. People today must remain alert and act with wisdom in both word and deed. We must not follow the example of the cunning King Herod, who, because of an empty promise made to a sinful young woman, put a righteous man to death. That was John the Baptist, the one who prepared the way for the Savior to come into the world. This was a grave sin committed by a king who failed to distinguish between justice and righteousness, truth and falsehood. Motivated by lust, bound by a reckless promise made in a drunken state, and blinded by the pride and honor of his royal position, the king allowed his judgment to be clouded. As a result, he committed the grievous sin of putting to death a prophet of God.

Today, God desires to remind His children: Do not fall into the traps of this world, which are money, status, power, fame, and lust. In His everlasting love for humanity, God invites everyone to:

• Repent, abandon your sinful ways, and return to God.

• Renounce your worldly passions and return to glorifying God, who is the source of life and true happiness for humanity.

• Do not, for the sake of worldly honor and power, make unjust judgments that displease God.

• Do not allow the constraints of authority or position to prevent you from carrying out God’s teachings—which call us to live in love, to forgive, to sacrifice and mortify ourselves, to fast and pray, and to renounce worldly desires in order to be reconciled with God, just as He has taught us through His prophets of today.

Indeed, out of love, God has sent His prophets to remind and warn everyone—including the hierarchy of the Church: the successors of St. Peter, the cardinals, bishops, priests, religious men and women, and the entire community of God’s people—to repent of our sins and return to living according to the Word of God as taught through His prophets in this new era.

Do not yield to Satan’s temptation to exclude the prophets from the people of God or to turn a blind eye to the Word of God that continues to resound, guiding and instructing each member of His Church. These are the words of truth. Although cutting away the thorns and wounds may be painful, these words have the power to transform and bring sweetness to every soul that sincerely seeks the Truth that comes from God.

Thanks be to God. Amen.