September 28, Thursday of the 25th Week of Ordinary Time
Daily Readings: 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14, John 15:18–21
Today’s Gospel narrates Herod the Tetrarch getting wildly curious upon hearing rumors about the miracles performed by Jesus. His amazement grew even more when he learned that many Jews see Jesus as John the Baptist raised from the dead—the prophet Herod himself ordered to be executed.
The Scripture ended by stating, “And he kept trying to see him.” (Luke 9:9). Although the Gospel cuts here, we can dig deeper into its message by reflecting on the moment when they actually meet—the morning before Jesus’ crucifixion.
Upon seeing Christ, Herod delightedly ordered Him to perform a miracle, which was something he had longed to witness since he first heard about the Lord. But Jesus remained silent, and the chief priests and scribes present “stood there, making the most violent accusation.” (Luke 23:10) Herod followed suit, jeering at Him. When they got nothing from Jesus, they sent Him back to Pilate in a gorgeous cloak.
Herod took the important first step towards holiness by having a deep desire to know Jesus. However, he fell short of accepting Him as the Son of God. Instead, he saw Christ as some cheap party trick for his amusement. Maybe he preferred to see the miracles firsthand before believing, or perhaps he wanted to confirm the belief that Jesus was John the Baptist reborn. Either way, he chose to mock the Lord just to get what he desired.
This is a gentle reminder to revisit how we actually pray. We may be becoming impatient with God for not answering our intentions or for being too demanding to get what we want. He is not a magician who grants prayers on a whim. He is not a genie who answers to us. We must never let ourselves become like those chief priests and scribes, blaspheming the Lord when He did not give them what they asked of Him.
God is a generous provider, but we have to recognize that everything happens according to His perfect timing. When we pray, it must be done with utmost reverence. If we do that, we can start hearing His voice and letting it penetrate our hearts.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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