August 04, 2018
Saturday 17th Week in Ordinary Time 1st Reading: Jr 26:11-16. 24 Gospel: Mt 14:1–12
On one occasion the news about Jesus reached King Herod. And he said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist. John has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”Herod had, in fact, ordered that John be arrested, bound in chains and put in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had said to him, “It is not right for you to have her as wife.”
Herod wanted to kill him but he did not dare, because he feared the people who regarded John as a prophet.On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst of the guests; she so delighted Herod that he promised under oath to give her anything she asked. The girl, following the advice of her mother, said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a dish.”The king was very displeased, but because he had made this promise under oath in the presence of the guests, he ordered it to be given her.
So he had John beheaded in prison and his head brought on a dish and given to the girl. The girl then took it to her mother.Then John’s disciples came to take his body and bury it. And they went to bring the news to Jesus.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life Experience)
When Herod the Great died, his territory was divided among his surviving sons Archelaus, Philip, and Herod Antipas. Archelaus received half of his kingdom (Matthew 2:23), Philip got one-fourth and became ruler of the northern Transjordan, and Herod Antipas received the remaining one-fourth and so became ruler of Galilee and Perea. Herod Antipas is also known as Tetrarch (which means one fourth), from the fact that he received one-fourth of the kingdom. It was him who ordered the beheading of John the Baptist.
The cohabitation of Herod the Tetrarch and Herodias was prohibited by the Law of Moses which provides: “You shall not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife, for that would be a disgrace to your brother…” (Leviticus 18:16-20). Herod was aware of this and was afraid that John might preach about this incessantly and so trigger a rebellion.
Like what happened to John the Baptist, death is not a remote possibility for all who stand for the truth. Rarely does it come physically these days, though, because society has invented more painful forms of death such as mental anguish. But killing a prophet whether physically or emotionally inflicts real death on the killers as it did to Herod. When Herod killed John, the victim rested in peace while the killer was restless and stayed restless all his life. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M. Email: [email protected].
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