SERVICE TO THE WORD

Today’s 1st reading is a very brave demonstration of faith in God. Jeremiah totally surrendered his fate to the hands of those people who are out to get him even to the point of death so that he could speak out the words that God asked him to proclaim. What courage and strength that he was willing to go through it all for the sake of the word of God. We are better off than Jeremiah knowing that witnessing to the word of God every day of our life does not put us in a life threatening situation like in his time.  This should inspire us to really be of service to the word of God in our own way as we live our life each day. God is always there for us. He has been warning and instructing us to change our ways for the better because He knows exactly what await those who refuse to follow His path. When we encounter some obstacles or problems in life we must take them as warning signs from the Lord that life’s road ahead is not passable or will be a difficult one to take. Or it is better to make a detour and find another route. No matter what God’s bidding may be there should be no doubt on our part that each step we make with God’s guidance is always worth taking.  The travel may be long and hard but it will surely get us where we are going if we just listen to the voice of the Lord. Amen. Hallelujah!

Jer 26:11-16, 24

...Now, therefore, reform your ways and your deeds; listen to the voice of the LORD your God, so that the LORD will repent of the evil with which he threatens you. As for me, I am in your hands; do with me what you think good and right. But mark well: if you put me to death, it is innocent blood you bring on yourselves, on this city and its citizens. For in truth it was the LORD who sent me to you, to speak all these things for you to hear."

We should not have any fear or hesitation in carrying out the task that the Lord has given us just like Jeremiah. For we know that the Lord in His great love, is always there for us. What matters most is that we always call on God and allow His saving power to rescue us. Amen. Hallelujah!

Ps 69:15-16, 30-31, 33-34

Responsorial Psalm

R. (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Rescue me out of the mire; may I not sink! may I be rescued from my foes, and from the watery depths. Let not the flood-waters overwhelm me, nor the abyss swallow me up, nor the pit close its mouth over me. But I am afflicted and in pain; let your saving help protect me, God,

The gospel reading for today is about the beheading of St. John the Baptist by King Herod. Based on the gospel his motivations were fear of the people and not of God and his reputation as king. He was bent on giving everyone what they want. Why? So he could gain recognition, affection and much attention. For him it was all about pleasing the crowd and making people happy no matter what the consequences are. We, too sometimes fall into this trap and maybe we’re not going around murdering people, killing or harming them as Herod did. We kind of harm and murder people in different ways. Sometimes by killing their reputation and damaging their spiritual life. What’s worse is that sometimes we can do this in many ways and not even aware of it. These are both self centered and ungodly in nature. We sometimes end up just like King Herod who failed to act in accordance to what is pleasing to God. We may not have beheaded and killed a person physically but could be in other aspects whenever we succumb to selfish and worldly desires. This happens when we are being motivated to do something based on the standards of men instead of God. In our fight to stand up for what is right we encounter a lot of difficulties and go through really rough times. Sometimes we have to cut off ourselves from seemingly legitimate pleasures in life. It is not easy to uphold the truth but we should not compromise this for anything in this world. Let us always remain focused on Jesus and the truth. We are called by Jesus to be light and salt. But it is not easy because we are surrounded by so many pressures and the trend out there. We have our friends and relatives who are constantly influencing us. It’s so difficult to make the right decisions and do the right thing. As we can see in the gospel there is so much difference in the life of Jesus and John and the life of Herod. Jesus and John are not concerned about who receives them and who doesn’t because they are out there to do the will of the Father. Jesus loves us and nothing stops Him. Not even rejection and not receiving attention and affirmation that we all desire and crave. We can look into our lives and the things that we do and say on a daily basis when we’re around our families and friends or in the midst of our co workers. Attention, affirmation and recognition is not a bad thing but if it affects and compromises our walk with God then it’s wrong. Overcoming these things is very difficult but all is possible with the Lord if we are fixed on Him. We just don’t rely on hearsays and hand me downs info, do we? Today’s gospel clearly shows how totally misled Herod was in believing such a thing about Jesus. We are no different from Herod if we are not clear about the things of our faith. We must not confuse vital truths in our faith which we sometimes do when we do not take the initiative of learning, knowing and growing more in our knowledge of the word of God. As St. Jerome says, "Ignorance of the word of God is ignorance of Jesus." There are different and several layers that we have to unearth before we can understand our Lord Jesus Christ. The things we have to look at are not just the exterior but we have to look into the interior. We receive grace and enlightenment as we strive to know more about Jesus. As we discover each day amazing truths about our faith the more we are in touch who Jesus is. Amen. Hallelujah!

  

  

Matthew 14:1-12

Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus and said to his servants, "This man is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why mighty powers are at work in him." Now Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, for John had said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” Although he wanted to kill him, he feared the people, for they regarded him as a prophet. But at a birthday celebration for Herod, the daughter of Herodias performed a dance before the guests and delighted Herod so much that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests who were present, he ordered that it be given, and he had John beheaded in the prison.