Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Poor Herod. He had John the Baptist beheaded at his daughter’s request (see my previous reflection on August 29 for more on that). Behind the scenes was Herodias, Herod’s wife, who found John the Baptist very threatening. She wanted him dead. Herod found him unsettling, though he was also aware that he kept wanting to hear what John the Baptist had to say.
The point is that John the Baptist deeply unsettled people. In other words, he was trouble. So, Herod had his head cut off. An obviously grim and horribly violent thing to do. But, for Herod and Herodias, it looked as though they had solved their “problem”.
Too often people in power do this sort of thing. They spot what they take to be a problem (and perhaps it actually is) but rather than seek to resolve it or understand where its coming from or why it’s before them, they take a shortcut. Demonize whoever can be blamed for the problem and get rid of them, one way or another.
Maybe it’s an employee who is verbalizing questions about a direction an organization is taking. That’s easy: fire them. Lately, we’ve been hearing a lot about immigrants and refugees and the threat they supposedly pose to the majority population. The answer from certain corners seems to be: deport them, even if they are here legally.
But Herod has a problem. He’s hearing reports that John the Baptist has been resurrected or that he has returned as Elijah. Something is happening, and Herod doesn’t know what it is or like it. He thought he had solved his “problem” in just one act. Done.
Apparently, God had other ideas. God said, sorry Herod. You’re not the boss here. You can do a lot of damage, that is for sure. But, in the end, you are not running the show. I am.
And, guess what, there’s another on the way who is going to make you (and so many others) squirm like never before.
To borrow from Fr. Satish’s wonderfully challenging homily on Sunday, Herod was looking at things from ground level. Who are the threats to his power? What can he do to protect it? How far does he need to go to get the outcome he wants? He’d had one head cut off. Why not more?
But God was looking at things from above the scene in accordance with the logic of His Kingdom. Another is on the way, Herod. Look out! He’s gonna mess with your very worldly, violent, and abominable perspective.
Go God!
—Susan Trollinger