Gospel: Matthew 14: 1-12
People in power have the truth as their greatest enemy, and their reaction to the truth is always predictable. Some will fire people for speaking the truth. Others, like Herod in today's Gospel portion, will execute others who speak the truth. They think such deeds will silence truth, but when it emerges again in the person of another, the power brokers somehow get superstitious, as if only one person could possess the truth they seek to quash.
Jesus is not the resurrected John the Baptist, but he is one who carries on the mantle of the prophet, speaking truth wherever he goes. Clearly, that truth is upsetting to Herod and other people in power as well, and Jesus will earn the prophet's reward, being executed by the religious and political leaders of his day. The resurrection of Jesus will be the resurrection of truth itself that will come to live in others and be carried about the ends of the earth.
A Christian is fundamentally called to the prophetic mission. The Christian is not called to be the chaplain to courts of power but rather to be the conscience of a people and nation. The Christian vocation is to stand for the poor, marginalized, powerless, and needy in every time and place against every earthly power. The Christian, like John and Jesus is to be a haven in the desert, not a palace in the city.
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