Ever since John’s mother Elizabeth and father Zechariah received news about John’s birth, ever since Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth while she had Jesus in her own womb, it was announced to the world that John would have a special role in the history of salvation. God made John’s father mute because Zechariah doubted God’s will; his voice was restored when he names his son John according to God’s will. The friends and neighbors of Elizabeth and Zechariah are astonished at what they see – they know that something special and unique is going on. John himself had a fiery, assertive personality, but he channeled his energy into serving God and speaking out as a prophet who would point the way to Jesus.
During the Fortnight for Freedom which started at the vigil of June 21, the United States Bishops have asked us priests to preach about the importance of religious freedom in our country in the context of the solemnities and feasts we celebrate during this time period. John the Baptist proclaimed God’s word against the backdrop of a powerful Roman empire. Herod feared John the Baptist and his message so much so that John was ultimately imprisoned and beheaded for living out his faith according to God’s will. Herod did not want to hear the truth in the words of John the Baptist. As we see our religious freedom under attack in our own country in our own day, perhaps the honesty, diligence, and fortitude by which John the Baptist lived out his faith is a good example for all of us to reflect upon.
During the Fortnight for Freedom, we the faithful are to undertake prayer, education, and action in support of religious freedom. We are to undertake a national campaign of teaching and witness for religious liberty. John the Baptist paid with his life as he spoke the truths of our faith. Just last Thursday, we celebrated the feast of St John Fisher and St Thomas More, both of whom were beheaded by Henry VIII in 16th century England. Just like King Herod with John the Baptist, Henry VIII did not want More and Fisher to speak the truth about the Church and about the holy bond of matrimony that Henry VIII wanted to break with his wife Catherine of Aragon. More was a lawyer and chancellor of England, while Fisher was a high ranking English Bishop in the Catholic Church. For speaking out for religious freedom, both of them became martyrs for the faith.
In a document that was issued this past April, the Bishops called religious freedom “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty.” Religious Liberty was important to the founding fathers of our country: it was the topic of the first amendment to the US Constitution. In many ways, religious liberty is at the foundation of all the liberties we enjoy in our country, for if we Americans are not free to form and follow our consciences in our religious faith and to choose the way we live out our faith each day, then how will we be able to live in freedom in any sense of that word? When our government asks us to do something that is against God’s holy teachings, then the American tradition of liberty is being trampled upon and destroyed. We saw Dr. Martin Luther King Jr stir up the religious consciousness of our nation during the Civil Rights movement; a stirring of our religious consciousness is happening right now as well.
We pray for the intercessions of John the Baptist, for the intercessions of St Thomas More and St John Fisher, of St Peter and St Paul. We pray for the courage and fortitude that propelled these men to action, to stand up for faith and for freedom.
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