John the Baptist is in prison because he has condemned Herod Antipas for taking Herodias, his brother’s wife, to be his own.

It is often said that hell has no fury like a woman scorned; Herodias had surely a hand in John’s imprisonment.

It is now Jesus’ turn to bear testimony to John who had given testimony to the people that Jesus is the One who is to come.

Jesus describes John as a reed that does not sway with the wind, a man of principle— like himself who is truthful and is not concerned with anyone’s opinion, and who does not regard a person’s status (Mt 22:16).

Secondly, John lives the austerity of a true prophet of God, at home in his desert surroundings, and foreswearing the comfort of the Temple (John was of priestly lineage).

Thirdly, he embodies the prophet Elijah, the champion of God’s sovereignty during the reign of Ahab and Jezebel.

In fact, he is Elijah who is to come, the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy about Elijah being sent to prepare the people for the day of the Lord (Mal 3:1).

For all of these, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist (v 11). Still, his function was to announce the imminence of the Kingdom, but to be in the Kingdom is so great a privilege that it surpasses the position of the Baptist.

First Reading • Is 41:13-20

I am the Lord, your God, who grasp your right hand; It is I who say to you, “Fear not, I will help you.”

Fear not, O worm Jacob, O maggot Israel; I will help you, says the Lord; your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

I will make of you a threshing sledge, sharp, new, and double-edged, to thresh the mountains and crush them, to make the hills like chaff.

When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off and the storm shall scatter them. But you shall rejoice in the Lord, and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain, their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the Lord, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

I will open up rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the broad valleys; I will turn the desert into a marshland, and the dry ground into springs of water.

I will plant in the desert the cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive; I will set in the wasteland the cypress, together with the plane tree and the pine, that all may see and know, observe and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Responsorial Psalm •

Ps 145 “The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.”

Gospel • Matthew 11:11-15

Jesus said to the crowds: “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force. All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2025,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.