Sometimes, or maybe, oftentimes, we find ourselves called to speak out
the truth—to declare what is morally wrong or right. Today, where our
country is mired in corruption, as Christians and like John the
Baptist, we are called to say that giving money to government
officials in order to get a project approved is wrong.

Where did John the Baptist get his strength and courage to tell Herod,
“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”? Herod was a
powerful man and. If he only depended on his own strength then he must
have succumbed to just look the other way. Yet, John knew Jesus. He
got his strength from what Jesus taught him. Like the twelve apostles,
as we are to read in the next story, he, too must have been called to
be with Jesus to a deserted place to rest awhile. Do we also get
strength from Jesus in our everyday life?