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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.
The Gospel of the Lord.
***
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King Herod was a ruthless, bloodthirsty man.
We see evidence of this in today’s Gospel, as he orders the death of John the Baptist, a decision he made while he was drunk at a party.
But even after John’s death, Herod, “kept trying to see him.” While he was a ruthless killer, Herod was intrigued by John.
Before his death, Herod would call John into his chambers and listen to him speak. John stirred something inside of him; he tickled Herod’s curiosity about the divine.
Now after John’s death, Herod is haunted by the fact that he’s killed an innocent man.
***
This back and forth battle between light and darkness, between the search for truth and the need for survival, reveals how deeply conflicted Herod was.
He clung to power. But in his bedchamber at midnight wondered if there was more to life; even the possibility of rising from the dead.
Could it be, he questions in the Gospel, that John the Baptist has been raised from the dead? And if he is, how will Herod’s thinking – even his life – change?
***
That to me is where so many people in our world are at.
Though unlike Herod in his thirst for power, many are still conflicted; they’re drawn to the things of this world while intrigued by the idea of something more – even the possibility of rising from the dead.
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Our invitation is to be like John the Baptist, sharing the truth with them, which is done most effectively by the way we live our lives.
As Saint Francis of Assisi once said, “Preach always. Only when necessary use words.”
How do my actions reflect my belief in eternal life? And how might I share this belief with someone who’s soul searching today?
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