Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Journalists will often ask a bystander about what they saw and heard. It would appear that the Evangelist Luke is using this technique to report on the impact of what we could call the Jesus Movement. The followers of Jesus were hitting the road to tell the people about the Good News of Jesus, and it was causing quite a stir.
King Herod undoubtedly had a whole network of informants and spies who could give him direct reports about any individuals who might be a real threat to a paranoid king. And therefore, even a perplexed Herod gives us a strong witness of people believing that something extraordinary was happening by the preaching of the followers of Jesus. The Gospel account makes the point that Herod was eager to see Jesus.
There is a danger in allowing the Gospel to become a mere history book with all its intriguing characters connected with Jesus in some way. This is to forget that the Gospel is still the good and essential news we need today with all the complexity, danger, and desperate forces of our time. The gospel is not mere “hearsay” of the bystanders but is the living Word of God, still speaking to our hearts in good times and bad.
Lectio divina, prayerful reading of the Bible, is not reading for historical information, but a personal and humble openness to listening to the Holy Spirit speaking the Word of Life to me as I most need it.
Reflection by Fr. Daniel Petsche, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections