We can speak at length of Saint John’s death, but one has only to read today’s Gospel reading to encounter the full story. Most of us know the tragic account of his Passion, how he boldly reprimanded the Tetrarch Herod Antipas about his unlawful marriage and, given the grace of fortitude to heroically defend the truth, was then savagely martyred.

Saint John was called to be the forerunner of Jesus, the Christ: “The voice of him who cries out, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness, make straight in the desert a highway for our God’” (Isaiah 40:3). The unborn Saint John danced in his mother Elizabeth’s womb upon sensing the arrival of his Lord in Mary’s womb. Even before their human births, a God-centered affection was shared between these unborn infants. Given extraordinary graces, Saint John was led by the Holy Spirit to live a contemplative life in the desert near the Jordan River. In order to preserve and increase God’s grace in his life, he humbly prayed, fasted, did penance, and preached the Lord’s coming. Despite his disheveled appearance, his intense love for the God-man encouraged people to confess their sins, be baptized, and draw closer to the Lord, Jesus. On seeing the arrival of Jesus, John exclaimed “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) In fact, at every Mass as the priest elevates the Host, he recalls John’s words.