On the feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist, Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Mark (6: 17-29) in which tells how Herod came to have John the Baptist beheaded.

Fr Paul says Saint John the Baptist has two feasts. This one, in August, which celebrates his death, and the other one, in June, which celebrates his birth. And this is as it should be, for as Christ himself said, a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen.

St John the Baptist might have been the greatest, but he is also the most tragic. John was a prophet from before his birth – remember he leaped in the womb to announce the coming of the incarnate God. But John’s task was to proclaim the fulfilment of all prophecies – and by doing this he would do himself out of a job. And yet he did it: with unequalled courage John spread the news that he, the greatest of all men, was the least in the kingdom of heaven.

Some of his disciples would have preferred him to fight, to build his sect, to defeat this upstart whom John himself had baptized, in order to seize his place in history. But he did not – and so, rightly, he has his place, and he has glory in heaven.

On this day, Fr Paul invites us to ask, ‘St John the Baptist… Pray for us!’.