Fr. Roger J. Landry
Sacred Heart Convent of the Sisters of Life, Manhattan
Friday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I
Memorial of St. Agatha
February 5, 2021
Heb 13:1-8, Ps 27, Mk 6:14-29
To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below:
The following points were attempted in the homily:
- Today, as we come to the penultimate lesson of the Letter to the Hebrews that we’ve been pondering for the last four weeks, the author helps us to consider the characteristics of a Christian who keeps his or her eyes firmly fixed on Jesus and of a Christian leader who guides people to Jesus. These are lessons we see very much on display in the life and death of St. John the Baptist from today’s Gospel and in St. Agatha, one of the great cloud of witnesses whom the Church remembers today.
- The first reading highlights five qualities that the sacred author appeals to Christians to excel in even in the midst of the persecution they were enduring.
- The first is brotherly love. Christians are always to be distinguished by the love that we have together, which is likewise a sign that God sent Jesus and loves us just as much as he loves Jesus (Jn 17). Jesus calls us to love one another as he has loved us (Jn 15) and to care and feed each other out of love for him (Jn 21). When we keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus the guide and perfecter of our faith, we see him in others and love him in others.
- The second is hospitality. Not only do we sometimes “entertain angels,” but we welcome Christ himself, who identifies with every stranger we take in.
- Third is a particular care for those in prison, just as Jesus himself was imprisoned and called us to visit him in the disguise of anyone imprisoned (Mt 25). The early Christians were steadfast in caring for those who had been imprisoned on account of the faith, on account of their poverty, or other reasons. They sought to “redeem” or buy back the freedom of those in slavery or in debt. They risked their lives for those in prison, identifying themselves as Christians during times of persecution. Our care for those in these circumstances is always supposed to be excellent.
- Fourth, Christians are distinguished by their purity, for the pure of heart that allows them to see God in others. That’s why the author tells them to honor marriage and never let the marriage bed be defiled but adultery or immorality. Christ the Bridegroom teaches us how to love faithfully and we should never commit adultery in the covenant of love with him by adulterous or sinful sexual thoughts or deeds.
- Lastly, we’re called to be grateful and content with God in our life, rather than love money or to seek to place our faith, hope and love in mammon. As we’ve focused on earlier in this Letter, we Christians permit even the plundering of our property because we have a better possession, namely God. When we’re firmly fixed on Christ as our pearl of great price, we’re not overly attached to the stuff of this world. These are the qualities that the author wants us to focus on.
- With regard to Christian leaders, they do all of this and three things more.
- The first is that they speak the word of God.
- The second is that the teach us how to live and die well. We consider the outcome of their way of life.
- The third is that they instruct us by their example of faith in all circumstances, and hence we should imitate it, knowing Christ is always the same regardless of changing times and worldly values, and so our fidelity must similarly be the “same yesterday, today and forever.”
- When we look at the life of St. John the Baptist, we see someone who was the greatest of all the prophets speaking the word of God. He showed us to live what he was preaching, namely to repent and believe, to make straight the paths of the Lord, and to follow him when at last he indicated him as the Lamb of God. He showed us how to die in fidelity to the Lord until the end. His faith has always been placed forward for us to imitate, so that, like him, we might point out the Lord, allow him to increase as we decrease, with gratitude that even though we’re not worthy to untie his sandals, he has made us worth of so much more. We see moreover that he himself was imprisoned, that he sought to help Herod and Herodias honor the marriage bed and keep it undefiled, that he was unattached to money and material benefits but to the truth, that he trusted in God has his helper, his light, his salvation, his life’s refuge.
- We see similar qualities in St. Agatha, the young virgin martyr who was killed for the faith in Catania, Sicily, in 251. She is a particular witness, like so many of the virgin martyrs, of purity, of honoring the spousal union she has with Christ, and freedom of love of money, and of true brotherly love. She was pursued by one of the local leaders, Quintian, who couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. When she refused his advances, he indignantly wanted to teach her a lesson. As local civil leader he believed he should have the right to have sex with any virgin he wanted — and if she refused, he thought nothing of using the power of the state to force her compliance. He threatened her with being sent to a brothel, to prison, to being tortured or even killed. She replied, in words that are significant, “Jesus Christ, Lord of all, you see my heart, you know my desires. Possess all that I am. I am your sheep: make me worthy to overcome the devil.” She kept her eyes on the Lord. She knew she belonged to him. Quintian followed through on all his threats, but it didn’t shake Agatha’s trust in Jesus. She resisted to the point, and beyond, of shedding her blood and overcame the devil. She courageously trusted in him as her light and salvation and was not afraid of Quintian or anything. And Jesus answered her trusting prayers and now she is possessed by him in heaven. She was his yesterday, today and now forever. We consider the outcome of her way of life and seek to imitate her faith in Jesus as her light and salvation in life and death.
- The great source of fraternal love, the most important hospitality, the deepest liberation, the greatest marital covenant of all, the greatest treasure, we find in the Holy Mass. This is where we hear the Word of God spoken to us, where we consider with hope the end of life, where we seek to grow in a faith that others can imitate. This is where we meet and become one with our Light and Salvation, the one who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, the Lamb of God whom John the Baptist continues to point out.
The readings for today’s Mass were:
Reading 1 Heb 13:1-8
Let brotherly love continue.
Do not neglect hospitality,
for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.
Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment,
and of the ill-treated as of yourselves,
for you also are in the body.
Let marriage be honored among all
and the marriage bed be kept undefiled,
for God will judge the immoral and adulterers.
Let your life be free from love of money
but be content with what you have,
for he has said, I will never forsake you or abandon you.
Thus we may say with confidence:
Do not neglect hospitality,
for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.
Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment,
and of the ill-treated as of yourselves,
for you also are in the body.
Let marriage be honored among all
and the marriage bed be kept undefiled,
for God will judge the immoral and adulterers.
Let your life be free from love of money
but be content with what you have,
for he has said, I will never forsake you or abandon you.
Thus we may say with confidence:
The Lord is my helper,
and I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?
Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you.
Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
and I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?
Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you.
Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 27:1, 3, 5, 8b-9abc
R. (1a) The Lord is my light and my salvation.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart will not fear;
Though war be waged upon me,
even then will I trust.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
For he will hide me in his abode
in the day of trouble;
He will conceal me in the shelter of his tent,
he will set me high upon a rock.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Your presence, O LORD, I seek.
Hide not your face from me;
do not in anger repel your servant.
You are my helper: cast me not off.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Alleluia See Lk 8:15
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart,
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart,
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mk 6:14-29
King Herod heard about Jesus, for his fame had become widespread,
and people were saying,
“John the Baptist has been raised from the dead;
That is why mighty powers are at work in him.”
Others were saying, “He is Elijah”;
still others, “He is a prophet like any of the prophets.”
But when Herod learned of it, he said,
“It is John whom I beheaded. He has been raised up.”
Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison
on account of Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
John had said to Herod,
“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.
Herodias had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,
gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers,
and the leading men of Galilee.
His own daughter came in and performed a dance
that delighted Herod and his guests.
The king said to the girl,
“Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.”
He even swore many things to her,
“I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
even to half of my kingdom.”
She went out and said to her mother,
“What shall I ask for?”
Her mother replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”
The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request,
“I want you to give me at once on a platter
the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was deeply distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.
So he promptly dispatched an executioner
with orders to bring back his head.
He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter
and gave it to the girl.
The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
and people were saying,
“John the Baptist has been raised from the dead;
That is why mighty powers are at work in him.”
Others were saying, “He is Elijah”;
still others, “He is a prophet like any of the prophets.”
But when Herod learned of it, he said,
“It is John whom I beheaded. He has been raised up.”
Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison
on account of Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
John had said to Herod,
“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.
Herodias had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,
gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers,
and the leading men of Galilee.
His own daughter came in and performed a dance
that delighted Herod and his guests.
The king said to the girl,
“Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.”
He even swore many things to her,
“I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
even to half of my kingdom.”
She went out and said to her mother,
“What shall I ask for?”
Her mother replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”
The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request,
“I want you to give me at once on a platter
the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was deeply distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.
So he promptly dispatched an executioner
with orders to bring back his head.
He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter
and gave it to the girl.
The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
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