Bible Diary

Daily Reading

Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

LECTIONARY
406

FIRST READING

JER 26:11-16, 24

The priests and prophets said to the princes and to all the people,
“This man deserves death;
he has prophesied against this city,
as you have heard with your own ears.”
Jeremiah gave this answer to the princes and all the people:
“It was the LORD who sent me to prophesy against this house and city
all that you have heard.
Now, therefore, reform your ways and your deeds;
listen to the voice of the LORD your God,
so that the LORD will repent of the evil with which he threatens you.
As for me, I am in your hands;
do with me what you think good and right.
But mark well: if you put me to death,
it is innocent blood you bring on yourselves,
on this city and its citizens.
For in truth it was the LORD who sent me to you,
to speak all these things for you to hear.”

Thereupon the princes and all the people
said to the priests and the prophets,
“This man does not deserve death;
it is in the name of the LORD, our God, that he speaks to us.”

So Ahikam, son of Shaphan, protected Jeremiah,
so that he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.

PSALM

PS 69:15-16, 30-31, 33-34

Response: Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Rescue me out of the mire; may I not sink!
may I be rescued from my foes,
and from the watery depths.
Let not the flood-waters overwhelm me,
nor the abyss swallow me up,
nor the pit close its mouth over me.

But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your saving help, O God, protect me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving.

“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”

GOSPEL

MT 14:1-12

Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus
and said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist.
He has been raised from the dead;
that is why mighty powers are at work in him.”

Now Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison
on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip,
for John had said to him,
“It is not lawful for you to have her.”
Although he wanted to kill him, he feared the people,
for they regarded him as a prophet.
But at a birthday celebration for Herod,
the daughter of Herodias performed a dance before the guests
and delighted Herod so much
that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for.
Prompted by her mother, she said,
“Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests who were present,
he ordered that it be given, and he 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.
His disciples came and took away the corpse
and buried him; and they went and told Jesus.

Daily Reflection

There are times in life when we second-guess ourselves: what if I had done things differently, made other choices? Often, too, we are haunted by regret or are not at peace because of something that we have said or done.

Jesus’ public ministry seems to have triggered off this guilt in King Herod. Powerful and wealthy as he was, he lacked nothing except a clear conscience and peace with God. Herod had respected and feared John the Baptist as God’s prophet. John, outspoken and committed to the truth, openly rebuked Herod for his adulterous relationship with his brother's wife. The outcome was the imprisonment and beheading of John.

The consequences of taking a stand and speaking truth to power are aptly illustrated in both the Gospel and the first reading from Jeremiah. They serve as a reminder to each of us that the call to discipleship requires us to speak out with conviction against wrong and injustice, fully aware that this course of action could lead to our persecution and, eventually, our death.

Will we make sure that truth prevails?

Alphonsus de Liguori, the saint we honour today, was the founder of the ‘Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer’ popularly known as the Redemptorists. While his contributions to the Church in Moral Theology, Dogma, and Ascetical works are soundly practical, it is his belief that ‘many things seem to us as misfortunes…in reality they are God’s graces’, that resonates with us today.