Up next in 10
Welcome to our daily encounter with the Word of God! Today, we are invited to reflect on justice, freedom, and the courageous witness of faith through the readings from the Book of Leviticus (Leviticus 25:1,8-17) and the Gospel according to Saint Matthew (Matthew 14:1-12).
First Reading (Leviticus 25:1,8-17):
The Lord instructs Moses about the Year of Jubilee: every fifty years, the land must rest, debts are to be forgiven, and slaves set free. It is a sacred time of restoration and renewal — a powerful reminder that everything belongs to God, even time and land.
This passage calls us to practice justice, mercy, and fraternity. In a world often marked by inequality, the Jubilee reminds us that we are all brothers and sisters, called to care for one another and restore dignity through forgiveness.
Gospel (Matthew 14:1-12):
Today’s Gospel recounts the martyrdom of John the Baptist. He fearlessly spoke out against injustice, even before King Herod. His commitment to the truth cost him his life, but made him a powerful example of prophetic courage and fidelity.
This passage challenges us to live in truth and integrity, even when it comes at a cost. John the Baptist inspires us to stand firm in our faith and to be voices of righteousness in the world.
Reflection and Call to Conversion
Today’s readings invite us to embrace justice, inner freedom, and faithful witness. May the Jubilee lead us to acts of mercy, and may John the Baptist encourage us to live boldly for God’s truth.
Share in the comments what these readings speak to your heart and how you strive to live justice and truth in your daily life.
📖 Readings of the Day:
First Reading: Leviticus 25:1,8-17
Gospel: Matthew 14:1-12
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:04
[Music]
0:07
Reading from the book of Leviticus. The
0:10
Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Si, saying,
0:13
"You shall count off 7 weeks of years,
0:15
7* 7 years, which is 49 years. Then you
0:19
shall blow the trumpet on the 10th day
0:21
of the seventh month. On the day of
0:24
atonement, you shall blow the trumpet
0:26
throughout the land. You shall declare
0:28
the 50th year holy and proclaim liberty
0:30
to all who live in the land. It shall be
0:33
a jubilee for you. Each of you may
0:35
return to his own property and return to
0:38
his family. The 50th year shall be a
0:40
jubilee for you. You shall not sow or
0:43
reap what grows of itself, nor gather
0:45
the grapes of the undressed vine, for it
0:48
is a jubilee year holy to you, but you
0:51
may eat the produce of the fow ground.
0:54
In that jubilee year, everyone may
0:56
return to his own property. If you sell
0:59
to your fellow countrymen or buy
1:00
anything from him, you shall not defraud
1:03
his brother according to the number of
1:04
your brothers. Years after the jubilee,
1:07
your fellow countrymen will set the
1:09
purchase price for you. And according to
1:11
the number of years of harvest, he will
1:13
set the selling price. The more years
1:15
remain after the jubilee, the higher the
1:17
price of the land. The fewer the years,
1:20
the lower its price. for he sells to you
1:23
according to the number of harvests. Do
1:25
not harm one another among brothers, but
1:28
fear your God. I am the Lord your God.
1:32
Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
1:37
[Music]
1:43
Proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus
1:45
Christ according to St. Matthew. Glory
1:48
to you, Lord. At that time, the news
1:51
about Jesus reached the ears of Herod
1:54
the governor. He said to his servants,
1:56
"This is John the Baptist risen from the
1:59
dead, and that is why miraculous powers
2:01
are at work in him." Indeed, Herod had
2:04
John arrested, bound, and imprisoned
2:07
because of Herodiius, his brother
2:09
Philip's wife. For John had said to
2:12
Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have
2:14
her as your wife." Herod wanted to kill
2:17
John. But he was afraid of the people
2:20
who regarded him as a prophet. On
2:22
Herod's birthday, Herodiius's daughter
2:25
danced before everyone and pleased Herod
2:27
so much that he swore to give her
2:28
whatever she asked. Prompted by her
2:31
mother, she said, "Give me here on a
2:33
platter the head of John the Baptist."
2:36
The king was sad, but because of the
2:38
oath he had sworn before the guests, he
2:40
ordered her request to be granted. He
2:43
ordered John's head to be cut off in the
2:45
prison. Then the head was brought on a
2:47
platter and given to the girl who took
2:50
it to her mother. John's disciples went
2:52
to get the body and buried it. Then they
2:55
went and told Jesus everything. Word of
2:58
salvation. Glory to you, Lord.
3:03
[Music]
3:10
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
3:13
imagine a society where every 50 years
3:16
all debts are canceled, all slaves are
3:18
freed, and all property returns to its
3:21
original owners. It seems too utopian to
3:24
be real, doesn't it? An impossible dream
3:27
of social justice. Yet, this is exactly
3:30
what God commands in our first reading
3:32
today, the Jubilee Year. And it is in
3:35
this context of divine liberation that
3:37
we must understand the dramatic contrast
3:39
presented in the gospel where we witness
3:42
not the freedom but the imprisonment and
3:44
execution of John the Baptist. Leviticus
3:47
transports us to a world where justice
3:49
is not just an ideal but a divine
3:51
command. You shall proclaim liberty
3:54
throughout the land to all its
3:56
inhabitants. What a revolutionary
3:58
declaration. God is establishing a
4:01
system that prevents the excessive
4:02
accumulation of wealth and power, that
4:05
protects the vulnerable, that offers
4:07
hope to the hopeless. The Jubilee year
4:09
was not just an economic policy. It was
4:12
a profound theological statement about
4:14
the nature of God and his vision for
4:16
humanity. It was a constant reminder
4:18
that the earth belongs to the Lord, that
4:20
we are all pilgrims and strangers in
4:22
this world, that no one has the right to
4:24
perpetually oppress their fellow man.
4:26
Consider the radical beauty of this
4:29
vision. Imagine a young man who due to
4:32
circumstances beyond his control.
4:34
Perhaps a drought, a disease, or a
4:36
failed harvest was forced to sell his
4:39
ancestral land and even become a surf to
4:41
survive. Under the normal system, he and
4:44
his family could remain in this
4:46
condition for generations. But the
4:48
Jubilee offers hope. Every 50 years,
4:51
there is a new opportunity, a new
4:54
beginning, a restoration. This is the
4:56
heart of God. A God who not only loves
5:00
justice but institutes it into his law.
5:02
A God who understands that human
5:04
structures left to themselves tend to
5:07
create inequality and oppression.
5:10
Therefore, he establishes a divine
5:12
mechanism of correction, a periodic
5:14
reset that restores balance and renews
5:17
hope. But there is something even deeper
5:20
here. The Jubilee points to a
5:22
fundamental spiritual truth. We are all
5:25
captives in need of deliverance. We are
5:27
all debtors in need of forgiveness. We
5:29
are all exiles in need of restoration.
5:32
The physical jubilee is a shadow of the
5:34
spiritual jubilee that God desires to
5:36
accomplish in our lives. This is why
5:39
centuries later, Jesus would begin his
5:41
public ministry by reading the words of
5:43
Isaiah. The spirit of the Lord is upon
5:46
me because he has anointed me to preach
5:48
good news to the poor. He has sent me to
5:50
proclaim liberty to the captives, to
5:52
proclaim the acceptable year of the
5:54
Lord. Jesus was proclaiming the ultimate
5:57
jubilee, the spiritual liberation that
6:00
the physical jubilee only prefigured.
6:02
Now let us turn to the gospel. And what
6:05
a dramatic contrast we find. Instead of
6:08
liberation, we see imprisonment. Instead
6:12
of justice, we see royal capriciousness.
6:15
Instead of hope, we see despair. The
6:19
story of John the Baptist's death is a
6:21
study in how human power when not
6:23
subject to God's will can become
6:25
destructive and oppressive. Herod
6:27
Antipus, the tetrarch of Galilee, had
6:30
married Herodiius, the wife of his
6:32
brother Philillip. According to Jewish
6:35
law, this was adultery and incest. John
6:38
the Baptist, true to his prophetic
6:40
calling, courageously confronted Herod.
6:43
It is not lawful for you to have her as
6:45
your wife. Here we see the stark
6:48
contrast between two types of authority.
6:51
God's authority manifested in the
6:53
Jubilee which liberates and restores and
6:56
corrupt human authority represented by
6:58
Herod which oppresses and destroys. John
7:02
the Baptist represents those who choose
7:04
the former even at the cost of their
7:06
lives. Herodiius personifies wounded
7:09
pride and revenge. She cannot tolerate
7:12
being confronted with the truth about
7:14
her situation. And so she manipulates
7:18
circumstances to get what she wants.
7:20
Jon's head on a platter. What a horrific
7:23
image of perverted justice. And Herod,
7:26
Herod is tragically a divided man. Mark
7:30
tells us that he respected John, knowing
7:33
him to be a righteous and holy man, and
7:35
he protected him. When he heard him, he
7:38
was greatly perplexed. Yet he loved to
7:40
listen to him. What a moving description
7:43
of a heart in conflict. Herod recognizes
7:46
the truth in John but lacks the courage
7:49
to fully embrace it. This is a situation
7:52
many of us can relate to. How often do
7:54
we hear God's voice through scripture,
7:57
through our conscience, through godly
7:59
counselors, and are greatly perplexed
8:02
but lack the courage to act? How often
8:04
do we know what is right but allow fear,
8:07
pride, or social pressure to prevent us
8:10
from doing what we should? Herod's
8:12
birthday party becomes the setting for
8:14
an avoidable tragedy. Herodiius's
8:17
daughter dances for the guests, and
8:18
Herod, in a moment of bravado and
8:21
perhaps intoxicated by the wine and
8:22
festive atmosphere, makes a reckless
8:25
oath. Ask me for anything you wish and I
8:28
will give it to you, even half my
8:30
kingdom. What a pivotal moment. Herod
8:33
could have used his power for good, to
8:35
promote justice, to protect the
8:37
innocent. Instead, his recklessness
8:41
opens the door to evil. And when the
8:43
young woman, instructed by her mother,
8:46
asks for the head of John the Baptist,
8:48
Herod finds himself bound by his own
8:50
oath. The king was greatly grieved,
8:53
Matthew tells us. But even in his grief,
8:56
he chooses to preserve his reputation
8:58
before the guests rather than do what is
9:01
right. He fears the opinion of men more
9:03
than the judgment of God. My dear
9:06
brothers and sisters, what powerful
9:08
lessons these readings offer us. First,
9:11
they remind us that God is a God of
9:13
liberation. Just as he instituted the
9:16
Jubilee to free the physically
9:17
oppressed, he sent Jesus to free us
9:20
spiritually. Each of us can experience
9:23
our own personal jubilee where our
9:25
spiritual debts are canceled, our
9:27
bondage to sin is broken, and our
9:29
inheritance as children of God is
9:31
restored. Second, they challenge us to
9:33
examine how we use any authority or
9:35
influence we may have. We are called to
9:38
be like the Jubilee, agents of
9:40
liberation, justice, and restoration. or
9:44
do we risk being like Herod, using our
9:46
power to oppress or at best being
9:49
paralyzed by moral cowardice. Third,
9:52
they inspire us with the example of John
9:54
the Baptist. Here was a man who chose to
9:56
speak the truth and die rather than to
9:58
commit and live. He understood that some
10:01
things are more important than physical
10:03
life. Integrity, faithfulness to God,
10:06
witnessing to the truth. What a
10:09
challenge this poses to us in our daily
10:12
lives. We constantly face moments where
10:14
we must choose between what is
10:16
convenient and what is right, between
10:18
what is popular and what is true. John
10:20
the Baptist shows us that it is possible
10:22
to live and die with integrity even in
10:25
the face of the fiercest opposition.
10:27
Finally, these readings invite us to
10:30
reflect on our own need for liberation.
10:33
What are the prisons in our lives from
10:35
which we need to be freed? Perhaps they
10:37
are addictions that control us, toxic
10:39
relationships that diminish us, or
10:42
negative thought patterns that limit us.
10:44
The jubilee that God offers is not just
10:46
historical. It is present and personal.
10:50
And what are the prisons that we may be
10:52
imposing on others, perhaps through our
10:55
judgmental attitudes, our refusal to
10:57
forgive, or our reluctance to offer
11:00
second chances. The spirit of Jubilee
11:02
calls us to be agents of liberation in
11:04
the lives of others. Just as God has
11:07
been in our own. Dear friends, today we
11:10
are faced with a clear choice. We can
11:13
choose the path of jubilee, liberation,
11:16
justice, restoration, integrity, or we
11:19
can settle for Herod's path. Moral
11:22
compromise, cowardice, and oppression.
11:25
May we have the courage of John the
11:26
Baptist to speak the truth even when it
11:29
is difficult. May we have God's wisdom
11:32
to use whatever authority we have to
11:34
liberate and not to oppress. And may we
11:36
personally experience the divine jubilee
11:39
where our chains are broken, our debts
11:41
are forgiven, and our heavenly
11:43
inheritance is restored. For this is the
11:45
gospel we proclaim that in Jesus Christ
11:49
the ultimate jubilee has been
11:50
proclaimed. Freedom is available,
11:54
restoration is possible, hope is real.
11:57
May the Lord bless us and keep us. May
12:00
he make his face shine upon us and grant
12:03
us his peace today, tomorrow, and
12:06
forever. Amen.
12:08
[Music]
12:17
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in
12:19
battle. Be our protection against the
12:21
wickedness and snares of the devil. May
12:24
God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do
12:28
thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by
12:30
the power of God, cast into hell Satan
12:34
and all the evil spirits who prowl
12:36
throughout the world seeking the ruin of
12:39
souls. Amen.
12:43
[Music]
12:56
[Music]