Saturday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Mt 14: 1-12
August 5, 2023 | Saturday
At that time, the reports about Jesus reached king Herod. And he said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist. John has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in John.”
Herod had, in fact, ordered that John be arrested, bound in chains and put in prison, because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had said to Herod, “It is not right for you to have her as your wife.” Herod wanted to kill him but he did not dare, because he feared the people, who regarded John as a prophet.
On Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced among the guests; she so delighted Herod that he promised under oath to give her anything she asked for. The girl, following the advice of her mother, said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist, here, on a dish.”
The king was very displeased, but because he had made his promise under oath, in the presence of his guests, he ordered it to be given to her. So he had John beheaded in prison, and his head brought on a dish and given to the girl. The girl then took it to her mother.
Then John’s disciples came, took his body, and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
Today’s Reflection:
Was Herod delusional when he wrongly saw John the Baptist in Jesus? Most of the time, when we do something profoundly wicked, the moral implication of our actions creeps back to us through our conscience. We cannot run away from the bad actions we made especially those which we made against our fellow humans. Herod sees John the Baptist in Jesus because Jesus reminds him of what he had done to a person who only reminded him of his own cruelty. Herod was not delusional; it was a movement of his own conscience. We have a lot on our plates as well when it comes to our personal foolishness and our tendency is to run away from these sins we commit against others to find bliss. But when we run away from these actions, we will be like Herod when we put off the call to rectify our lives. It will keep hunting us. /Vulnerasti, 2023
