Daily Catholic Lectio
Sat, 3 August 2024
Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time – Saturday
Jeremiah 26:11-16, 24. Matthew 14:1-12
Herod’s confession
In today’s gospel reading, we read Herod’s profession of faith about Jesus: “This man is John the Baptist. Because he has risen from the dead, mighty powers are at work in him.
Herod presumes that Jesus is the ‘reincarnation’ of John the Baptist and acknowledges that Jesus’ miracles were because of God’s hand with him.
Following Herod’s confession, Matthew records the narrative of the beheading of John the Baptist. The narrative becomes significant at three levels:
(a) The men of God will encounter rejections. They are not welcomed everywhere.
(b) What befalls John the Baptist will fall on Jesus and later on his apostles. John’s beheading foreshadows Jesus’ crucifixion.
(c) Evil may seemingly win over good. But good continues to grow and spread. In the end, good wins.
Though Herod’s confession or profession of faith acknowledges Jesus’ greatness, indirectly it conveys the message to Jesus that he will do away with him as he did away with John.
What propels Herod to make his profession of faith is not surrender, but rebellion.
In the first reading, the people of Jerusalem condemn Jeremiah to death because he did not speak to their liking. People did not want to listen to what was true but wanted to listen to what was favourable to them. Ahikham, son of Saphan, stands with Jeremiah.
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A ‘pilgrim of hope’ knows that his profession of faith must be centred on God, not on himself. (Jubilee 2025 AD, bite 164).
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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