Gospel: Mark
6:14-29
King Herod heard about Jesus, for his fame
had become widespread, and people were saying, “John the Baptist has been
raised from the dead; That is why mighty powers are at work in him.” Others
were saying, “He is Elijah” still others, “He is a prophet like any of the
prophets. But when Herod learned of it, he said “It is John whom I beheaded. He
has been raised up. 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.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
What does it mean when you’re constantly
being bothered by your conscience? It simply means that you’ve done something
that is wrong and the only cure for this wrongdoing is to correct it. For example
if a believer has cheated on his/her spouse she/he will naturally be bothered
by her/his conscience. And this torment will not end until there’s a closure or
admission of the sin.
When King Herod heard about the miraculous
actions of Jesus and the popularity that He was earning from the ordinary
people. Herod thought of John whom he ordered beheaded it suddenly came to his
mind that John was alive. But it was very clear to King Herod that he ordered
John killed.
So why did King Herod thought of John when
he heard about Jesus? This is for the reason that King Herod was already being
bothered by his conscience. Herod did something which is terribly wrong and the
price that he has to pay for his wrongdoing was the guilt of conscience which
was constantly bothering him.
Aren’t we like that also when we do wrong?
But what separates us from Herod is we have an opportunity to admit our wrongdoing.
And once we do so the guilty feeling will not be there anymore.
But why allow ourselves to be pestered by
our guilt? Why not permanently delete guilt from our minds by not committing a
wrongdoing/sin? Some of us may say that it’s impossible not to commit a
wrongdoing or sin. Yes it may be impossible but, why not try asking Jesus to
help us be clean all the time or if we sin, why not humbly apologize and admit
our sin or wrongdoing? – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
No comments:
Post a Comment