Today, we talk about something going viral! This is mostly on social media. For instance, if someone writes, “A man bites a dog.” Everyone is curious to ask who that person is. How is it possible for a person to bite a dog? But if we say a dog bites a man, the surprise won’t be the same. Now moving to the Gospel of today, Jesus' message, his works, and the works of his disciples have gone viral. Everyone must be speaking about them. However, this does not sound good for Herod the tetrarch. His forefathers had tried to stop Jesus even from the time of his birth and had failed.
It is astonishing how Herod seems not to know Jesus. Even people within his court. People of the inner circle must have known Jesus or heard about him. But just to clarify how terrifying the truth might be, some were saying John the Baptist had been raised from the dead. Let us recall the main message of John the Baptist: Repent, prepare the way; the Kingdom of God is at Hand. Jesus comes, initiating the same kingdom. The reaction of Herod is justified because he feels threatened by another Kingdom. So, he affirms I beheaded John the Baptist, who is this I hear of? The scriptures say Herod asks, “Who then is this about whom I hear such things?”
“Such things,” underlines the mighty works of Jesus and his disciples. He is worried about Jesus' popularity. He is worried about the Kingdom of God being established by Jesus. St Chrysostom would say that wherever Jesus moved, proclaiming God’s Message consecrated the places, too. That means Jesus was reclaiming and reforming the places so they would belong to God. Obviously, this is a threat to Herod.
Comfort Zones
Perhaps, let us look at ourselves with the eyes of Herod. We are not fighting to own any kingdom like Herod's. But obviously, sometimes we find ourselves in our comfort zones. These comfort zones look perfect in our eyes, so anything that seems to infringe on that sense of freedom becomes our enemy. On many occasions, these comfort zones are places of sin. Sometimes, there might be places of full entitlement and possession that render no space for Jesus. These are what the first readings call the vanity of vanities. Unconsciously or consciously, we became indifferent to those who wanted to pull us out of such situations.
We might find ourselves fighting hard to accept the message of forgiveness, the message of being more charitable, or the message of becoming more patient from someone who, at this time, is an instrument of Jesus. This may cause us to look at these individuals who caution us from such characters as unworthy or treat them as enemies.
Trials and Sufferings
If we don’t eliminate these small traits, we will even cause more suffering for those who want us to change. People who are working hard so that the kingdom of God can be established in our lives. These could be our family members. These could be people we work with. These could be anybody we meet. The reading invites us today to cross-examine ourselves and see those places that are vanities in us, but we keep clinging to them, and may make us despondent and not realize Jesus is trying to save us.
We pray for God’s grace that we welcome him. Transform ourselves daily, and we ask him to burn anything that isolates us from him.
Amen
