Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Herod is an interesting figure in the Gospels. With several members of the same family sharing that name, it can be hard to keep them straight. But the Herod in today’s Gospel is the same Herod Antipas who had John the Baptist beheaded. Mark tells us that he enjoyed listening to John, even though he was perplexed by what he heard. And then he had his head cut off. Now he wants to hear more about Jesus. He keeps trying to see him. Once again, he’s perplexed.

There are a couple of ways we could read that. We could be cynical and say that Herod is wealthy and privileged, so he enjoys dabbling in this and that. Jesus is simply his interest this week, but he doesn’t really care. But I think what the Gospel authors are trying to show us is that he really is interested. God is reaching out, trying to touch his heart and draw him to conversion. God did that first through John the Baptist. Then Herod sinned, and now God is trying again. Out of his great love for Herod, God is willing to overlook his misdeeds and draw him in.

I think we’re seeing Herod’s conscience before us. We’re seeing the act of listening—or refusing to listen—to conscience play out in this Gospel. And we’re fairly certain he’s going to choose the wrong thing. He usually does. But God keeps giving him that opportunity.

That matters in our spiritual lives, because no matter what we do, God continues to reach out to us. Sometimes people fall into the habit of thinking, “Because I’ve sinned, especially because I’ve committed a mortal sin, my prayers don’t matter. Nothing I do matters. Until I can get to confession, it’s just over with.” But that is not how the spiritual life works.

Certainly, we don’t want to die in that state. But God does not cease loving us in that state. He does not cease offering us his grace. In fact, he offers us his grace all the more in order to draw us back in.

Often, he does that through conscience: that little prick of the conscience that makes us pay attention. We hear a word and begin thinking about the Gospel or the faith. We drive by a church and remember, “Oh, I really do need to work on this.” Those are some of the ways God reaches out and draws us back. And I think that’s what’s happening with Herod. God is giving him another opportunity.

When we receive those opportunities, when God reaches out through our conscience, it is important that we act immediately. We must not keep delaying, because it is so easy to cover over that message, to push it down until we no longer hear it. This is our chance to convert, to fix whatever is wrong, and to be restored fully to that life of grace with him.

So let us make sure that whenever he reaches us, we listen, we act immediately, and we convert. Because that is the sure path to life.