Saturday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
July 30, 2022
Daily Reading from the USCCB: Matthew 14:1-12
The greatest prophet in the bible was John the Baptist, a cousin of Jesus. The Gospel describes the conditions that brought about his death at the hands of King Herod. Here was a perfect example of a man–John–in chains and yet who was really free, and a so-called powerful king who in his weakness was really in his personal prison.
It is so often the case we see in the world. There are those who seem to be weak and abused and yet are like granite and faithful in the midst of suffering. Others who parade around with external power and fame are often frail and weak in their hearts and in their disregard for those they rule and abuse. Often they are more like paper cutouts that can’t stand straight without their props of wealth and fame.
