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Wednesday August 29, 2001 Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time Reading (Jeremiah 1:17-19) Gospel (St. Mark 6:17-29) Today as we celebrate the Feast of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, it strikes us, initially, as something that most people would not want to be celebrating. Yet, we recognize that this was the greatest act of witness to Christ that John the Baptist performed. Of all the things that John did in preparing the way for the Lord this was the greatest because he was willing to give complete witness of his entire life for the Lord. As he offered himself,...

Sunday June 24, 2001 Feast of Saint John the Baptist Reading I (Isaiah 49:1-6) Reading II (Acts 13:22-26 ) Gospel (St. Luke 1:57-66, 80) Today we celebrate in the Church a wonderful event: the birth of a child. When we think about the way things operate in our own lives, the day of one's birth is a very important day. We celebrate it with great joy. We invite friends over when the kids are young, we have parties for their birthday and all the other stuff that goes along with the birthday celebration. But in the Church, the celebration of...