Word to the Wise
Thursday, September 24, 2009 - Thursday in the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
[Haggai 1:1-8 and Luke 9:7-9]"Who then is this about whom I hear such things?" And he kept trying to see him.
One of the factors we have to bear in mind when we read about Jesus in the gospels is that we see him as "insiders" - as believers. We are not first century Palestinians and, in the case of today's gospel scripture, we are certainly not a regional petty tyrant like Herod, installed by the Romans to keep Galilee stable. Herod's power enabled him to behead John the Baptist with nothing more than a hangover to show for it! That's the way he understood things. Jesus could be just one more temporarily interesting religious fanatic who could do very interesting things. Herod would, indeed, get to meet Jesus (Luke 23:6-11). (Some of us might recall the scene in JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, where Herod sings the sarcastic song, "So, you are the Christ, you're the great Jesus Christ? Prove to me that you're no fool! Walk across my swimming pool!") The encounter would be a complete waste of time from both his and Jesus' standpoint! Herod's question, however, is one we would love to hear from honest and earnest folks. But if we want to hear that question, we have to make it possible for others to "hear such things" about Jesus that they want to try to "see him." As St. Paul says: "How can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent?" (Romans 10:14-15) Our very secular world is all too ready to dismiss prophets and religious figures. When informed about the Pope's opposition to some action, Stalin once asked, "How many divisions does he have?" We are all "sent" by virtue of our baptism. Our preaching does not have to occur from a pulpit or a street corner (although one hopes good preaching will happen in both those places). The question remains, though, as to whether or not we speak of Jesus Christ at all!!!! Is anyone curious about Jesus as a result of our example? Perhaps we ourselves should try harder to "see him." AMEN
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