The Passion of St. John the Baptist

Mark 6:17-29

John the Baptist stands revealed before us in this gospel passage. He stands as a man of courage. John was a man who preferred death to falsehood. He lived for the truth and he died for the truth. He brought the voice of God to people; he was the conscience of the people. The value of John the Baptist’s death in Christian memory and in God’s own eyes makes us face the reality of our own deepest convictions.