A reflection on Luke 9:7–9 for Thursday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time.
In today’s Gospel, Herod is puzzled by everything he has heard about Jesus. Some believe Jesus is John the Baptist raised from the dead. Others think he is Elijah or one of the ancient prophets. Herod, who had ordered John’s execution, is curious enough to want to see Jesus for himself. But there is something unsettling about his curiosity. He wants to see the man everyone is talking about, yet nothing in this passage suggests that he is ready to confront the truth John had proclaimed or reconsider the choices that led to John’s death.
It is easy to look at Herod and see someone whose interest in Jesus never moves beyond curiosity. But perhaps this Gospel is asking us to look a little more closely at ourselves. We may know the stories of Jesus, attend Mass regularly, pray familiar prayers, and consider our Catholic faith an essential part of who we are. Yet knowing about Jesus and allowing him to shape the way we live are not always the same thing.
I have come to believe that one of the more difficult parts of growing in faith is recognizing how easily we can make Jesus comfortable for ourselves. We are drawn to his words about love, mercy, and forgiveness, especially when we are the ones who need them. But when he asks us to extend that same mercy to someone we find difficult, or to recognize his presence in a person whose life challenges our assumptions, following him becomes considerably less comfortable.
We can admire Jesus’ compassion for the poor while remaining distant from the struggles of people living in poverty. We can praise his welcome of outsiders while questioning whether certain people truly belong in our communities. We can speak passionately about the dignity of every human life while failing to recognize that dignity in someone whose circumstances or choices we do not understand.
And within the Church, we can become so concerned with preserving the familiar that we hesitate to ask whether some of our practices leave people feeling unseen or unwelcome. Love for the Church does not mean that every question is a threat to our faith. Sometimes the willingness to listen, to examine what we have always assumed, and to acknowledge where we have fallen short is itself an act of faithfulness.
None of this is easy. There are times when I would much rather hear Jesus affirm what I already believe than discover that he is asking me to change. After decades of practicing my faith, I still have to confront the temptation to confuse being familiar with the Gospel with actually living it.
Perhaps that is why Herod’s desire to see Jesus is worth considering. Curiosity can be the beginning of faith, but it cannot be where faith ends. An encounter with Christ invites something more than admiration. It asks for a willingness to be changed, sometimes in ways that unsettle our certainty and challenge the comfortable boundaries we have drawn around our lives.
The question is not simply whether we want to see Jesus, but whether we are willing to be changed by what we see.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, forgive us for the times we have admired your words without allowing them to change our hearts. Give us the humility to recognize where our assumptions have kept us from loving others as you do. Help us to listen when your Gospel challenges us, to welcome those we have overlooked, and to follow you even when the path leads beyond what is familiar and comfortable. Amen.