Today's Gospel

Lessons from a Madman

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant. Today's reading is from Matthew chapter 14, verses 1 through 12. At that time, Herod the Tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus. And he said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead. That is why these powers are at work in him."

For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison, and for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because John said to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her," and though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people because they held him to be a prophet. But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.

Promised by her mother, she said, "Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter." And the king was sorry, but because of his oath and his guests, he commanded it to be given. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl. And she brought it to her mother. And His disciples came and took the body and buried it. And they went and told Jesus. What jumps out at you today? It's a fascinating reading. Herod is so filled with superstition. Herod has all these different superstitions.

I think an argument can be made that at this point in Herod's life, he's actually experiencing some form of mental illness. And he says that Jesus is John the Baptist come back from the dead, specifically to taunt him or to be a curse on him. And of course, all of this is in Herod's mind. And then the arrogance of the situation and how easily Herod allows himself to be manipulated by Herodias is also astounding. But I think there's other things that we like, we read these things, we just read straight through them. The girl asked for John the Baptist head on a plate like now, like pronto.

And so Herod sends servants to the prison to behead John the Baptist. Now, I don't know how you do a beheading when you aren't prepared to do a beheading. But when I think about that, it's like, "Okay, well, how they chop his head off?" And that must have been pretty gruesome. And the pain and the suffering of John the Baptist, which had already been immense, must have been horrific, right? And then they bring his head. I think sometimes when we read the scriptures, we sanitize them. But no, they're actually bringing a head on a platter into the dining room.

And the gruesomeness of that is, I think, it's necessary to understand the lunacy of this situation. And so what jumps out at you? Maybe you fall into superstition from time to time. Maybe you allow people to manipulate you from time to time. What is it that jumps out at you? Allow that to anchor your day. Have a great day and remember, be bold, be Catholic.