Today in the Gospel we read about King Herod's undoing:
Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison
on account of Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
John had said to Herod,
“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.
Herodias had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,
gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers,
and the leading men of Galilee.
His own daughter came in and performed a dance
that delighted Herod and his guests.
The king said to the girl,
“Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.”
He even swore many things to her,
“I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
even to half of my kingdom.”
She went out and said to her mother,
“What shall I ask for?”
Her mother replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”
The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request,
“I want you to give me at once on a platter
the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was deeply distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.
So he promptly dispatched an executioner
with orders to bring back his head.
He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter
and gave it to the girl.
The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. ~Mark 6:14-29
Imagine Herod going to listen to John, taking time to listen to him speak. Within the walls of the prison, he might have sat in the quiet, and John would pray and the Holy Spirit would speak through him. In the relative quiet of the dungeon it would be easy for Herod to listen and maybe even grapple with the things that were being revealed. Silence is a great revealer. In the silence we are able to stop, breathe, and wait for what the Lord wants to tell us. But what if the Lord tells us something that we don't want, or aren't ready to hear? What if He speaks words to our hearts that convict us that change is needed? Change is how we become more and more grafted on to Christ, but change also means that we have to look at things that we have embraced for our lives, things that we have to let go of and cut off in order to live in His Grace.
Herod probably heard this as he sat and listened to John in the quiet. Maybe he even thought in those times that he desired to be free of all the things that were destroying his peace. Maybe in those times, talking with John, he would agree that he was living a sinful and deadly life, and that he was going to change. Yes, by Heaven, he was going to confront his sin head on, he was going to send Herodias back to his brother, he was going to put a stop to the debauchery and wickedness of the social scene at the palace! Yes! I am going upstairs right now and get started!
Don't we do this?
We are praying, and Jesus reveals a place in our hearts that needs disinfecting, so we sit there and we agree with Him and we commit ourselves to conversion. We look at it and it seems so obvious that we need to send it packing.
But just like Herod we leave that quiet place where the Lord has our attention and we go back to the distractions of our lives.
He may have gone up to confront Herodias, who knows? But...well there was the birthday party that she had planned, and he didn't want to throw a wrench into that. A lot of important people would be coming. And there were the political people to deal with, and the Jewish leaders, and then he just forgot.
There are so many times that I sit in Adoration and Jesus shows me something that He desires for me, or for someone that I love. He shows me how much better life can be. He offers me peace and Grace in that quiet place, and I embrace it! Oh, how I want that! I want to put away all that would get in the way.
But then I leave, and there is a text from one of the kids, and there is laundry to do, and there is a podcast that I haven't listened to, and we have to get the tax stuff together....blah, blah, blah.
Life in our time is the chaos equivalent of Herod's palace in full party mode. There are SO MANY things that require our attention!
They crush our resolve.
It's too hard to change, it's too much, I am ok, it's not really so bad, I'll go shopping.
When will we be in a place where we can easily follow through? Never, if we don't look to Christ.
Herod had John the Baptist pointing the way to Jesus. Jesus was right there, in Galilee, in the flesh.
We have the Church pointing the way to Jesus, He is right here, on our altars, in the flesh.
He wants us to have peace. He wants us to know that we are forgiven and that He takes away all that disturbs us. He is the healer of anxiety and disorder.
We have to go to Him everyday, we have to sit at His feet, and we have to choose to accept what He is offering.
If we do that, our lives will never be the same.
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