John died for the truth.

In nuclear reactors, man-controlled and directed chain reactions Man-controlled and directed chain reactions in nuclear reactors can successfully protect and develop human life. By contrast, if the chain reaction proceeds in an avalanche-like fashion and can neither be controlled nor directed by man, such as in the explosion of an atomic bomb, then it produces only terror, misfortune, and destruction.

In the moral sphere, too, we can speak of a chain reaction. Good begets new well, and evil has more evil. At the root of every human activity that can be qualified as morally good or bad is an idea either by or contrary to the moral law. From the thought arises or is released a statement, an impulse, a movement, which manifests itself at one time indeed, at another in word. Every act has its consequences; every word has its repercussions; if a man can direct the course of his thoughts, if he can control his passions and passions, if he holds his action by reason and rules over it by will, his word can bring joy and happiness to men. Men can benefit much from their acts.

But if a man becomes the plaything of his passions and passions, if the dark forces of the evil veil the vision of his reason with mist and paralyze the power of his will, then the evil of his words may grow pain and sorrow, then the fruit of his deeds may be shame and fear, misery and death.

Herod Antipas was the son of Herod the Great, who wanted to destroy the little Jesus after his birth in Bethlehem. From his father, he received an inheritance rule over Galilee and Transjordan. He drove his lawful wife away from him when he met Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. He lured her away from him. He entered into a sinful adulterous affair with her. John the Baptist sharply rebukes him, “You shall not live with your brother’s wife” (Mk 6:19). Though he exploded with violent anger against John, Antipas knew how to control himself. The Slovak poet Hviezdoslav is the author of the tragedy Herod and Herodias. Other literary forms and some film works also deal with this theme. Why?

Mark masterfully recorded the events surrounding Jesus Christ when Herod, under the pressure of remorse, said: “This is John risen from the dead, whom I had beheaded.” (Mk. 6:16). The Gospel story is like an episode from a novel. A king celebrates a birthday, a young girl dances before a select company, and she is allowed to make a wish for a reward. The moment has come for the queen, the girl’s mother, to take revenge on an inconvenient critic. Because the king is a weakling, John the Baptist must die. All it takes is a little intrigue at just the right moment for the man of God to be killed.

Our century has enriched the world with a new discipline, atomic physics. It has brought the concept of the chain reaction into the consciousness of humanity. It is based on the ability of neutrons released or produced by the disintegration of an atomic nucleus to cause other atomic nuclei to break up. In nuclear reactors, man-controlled and directed chain reactions can successfully protect and develop human life. By contrast, if the chain reaction proceeds in an avalanche-like fashion and can neither be controlled nor directed by man, such as in the explosion of an atomic bomb, then it produces only terror, misfortune, and destruction.

In the moral sphere, too, we can speak of a chain reaction. Good begets new well, and evil has more evil. At the root of every human activity that can be qualified as morally good or bad is an idea either by or contrary to the moral law. From the thought arises or is released a statement, an impulse, a movement, which manifests itself at one time indeed, at another in word. Every act has its consequences; every word has its repercussions; if a man can direct the course of his thoughts, if he can control his passions and passions, if he holds his action by reason and rules over it by will, his word can bring joy and happiness to men. Men can benefit much from their acts.

But if a man becomes the plaything of his passions and passions, if the dark forces of the evil veil the vision of his reason with mist and paralyze the power of his will, then the evil of his words may grow pain and sorrow, then the fruit of his deeds may be shame and fear, misery and death.

Herod Antipas was the son of Herod the Great, who wanted to destroy the little Jesus after his birth in Bethlehem. He received an inheritance of rule over Galilee and Transborder from his father. He drove his lawful wife away from him when he met Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. He lured her away from him. He entered into a sinful, adulterous affair with her. John the Baptist sharply rebukes him, “You shall not live with your brother’s wife” (Mk 6:19). Though he exploded with violent anger against John, Antipas knew how to control himself. He did not have him killed immediately because he was afraid of John since it was known that he was a righteous and holy man. He had him imprisoned in the dungeon under his castle, Marchers. Herodias was Herod’s niece, for she was the daughter of Aristobulus, who was also the son of Herod the Great and whom his father had murdered. Herodias was the wife of Philip, also a son of Herod the Great. Salome was their daughter. She was about nineteen years old when she demanded the head of John the Baptist as a reward for her dancing.

The Bible does not give the name of Herodias’ daughter Salome. It is known from Jewish Antiquities, written by the Greek historian Josephus Flavius. Herod was a terrible murderer. Herod Antipas and Herodias and his daughter Salome came from his school. John must have reckoned that only severe punishment could await him for such an admonition to Herod and his illicit wife. He was waiting for the opportunity: when, where, and how. Similar things have happened more than once in history. Today, we especially remember that both John and Christ loved the truth and the good above all things. It is Friday. Remembering the death of the Lord Jesus. Judas, not Salome, betrayed Jesus. Her mother induced Salome—Judas by the desire for money.
What does this mean for us? We need to embrace what Jesus and John the Baptist loved: truth and goodness. This is the surest victory. John successfully fulfilled his mission as a prophet, Jesus the Redeemer and Savior of the world. Let us ask the Divine Heart of Jesus for the strength to persevere in good until the end of our lives.