Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Saturday of the 21st week in ordinary time, August 29, 2026, Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist

Delivered by Enge Kristina from the Parish of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga in the Diocese of Surabaya, Indonesia. Jeremiah 1: 17-19; Rs psalm 71: 1-2.3-4a.5-6ab.15ab-17; Mark 6: 17-29.SPEAKING THE TRUTH AND DEFENDING PURITY The theme for our meditation today is: Speaking theTruth and Defending Purity. As we celebrate today the anniversary of John theBaptist's death, our hearts and minds are directed to this man, such a strongand courageous person, who was the voice of truth that went to reach thedeepest of human heart. He was so convinced to challenge the highest authorityof his time because of his immoral life, which was far from truth and purity. The life of John the Baptist is signified by thisstatement: "Speaking the truth and defending purity", which serveswell in the marriage life of a husband and his wife. This is also the spirit of life that gives the values ofsincerity and respect for human dignity to sustain people's life. Long beforeJohn the Baptist, there was the great prophet Jeremiah who was very depressedbecause his enemies severely threatened him to death, and yet he never turnedaway from God. He stood firmly with the truth of God, and his life was purelydedicated to God alone. What John the Baptist and Jeremiah did was theintegral part of the good news of Jesus Christ. The person of Jesus was thesource of truth and purity. Jesus himself reveals that people with pure mindsand hearts are always free from all the negative things such as falsity, lies,lustful desire, judgemental habit and oppression of the weak. And so by doingthe right things, the importance of sacredness of truth and purity would bewell preserved. Jesus Christ in many occasions had strongly criticizedthe Pharisees and the scribes because their hypocrisy, namely what they spokedid not correlate with what they acted in reality. This was clearly shown intheir impure intentions or false motivations. When lies, deceit, arrogance andlust dominate our lives as believers and members of the society, it is certainthat the truth will be lost and the purity of human conscience will beineffective. The enemies of truth, sincerity and purity usually act violentlyto destroy the promoters or bearers of truth. The prophet Jeremiah, the last prophet John theBaptist and the Lord Jesus Christ had experienced all these realities. However,the struggles and efforts to defend the truth and purity will never end todayand tomorrow. Why did the enemies not succeed in eliminating truth and purityin people's life, even though they had been trying hard to do it since the daysof Jeremiah? Because our human minds and hearts were created for living intruth and purity that comes from God. We believe and accept as fact of ourfaith, that God alone chooses to live in us and in our hearts. If we lose thisessence of faith, we will begin to deny the truth and purity in our lives. Weneed to hold firm this truth, that deep within us, we want to live a true andpure life on earth. Hopefully we still want to go back to this when we realizethat we have done something wrong in this line. Let'spray. In the name of the Father ... In Your grace, O Father, we find all Yourmercy to bring us back to You after we failed and disobeyed Your will.Strengthen us to be more faithful and righteous in our life of faith. Glory tothe Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit ... In the name of the Father...