Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation outside in the woods on the memorial of the beheading of John the Baptist at Camp Caribou near Barry's Bay on August 29, 2025.

 The church celebrates both his birth and his death. The to the death prelude is important: Mark 6, 14-16:  King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” Others said, “He is Elijah.” And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”  But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”

Then comes the flashback that explains this. Not all give their lives in martyrdom, but all saints were faithful to the end. We too, are part of that long chain of fidelity.