Commentary on the Gospel of

NOVICE MASTER Fr. Johnson Joseph, cmf

The news about John the Baptist weighed down on the conscience of Herod. He was perplexed because of what he had done to the man of God in order to subvert the truth and to have his way. Now he felt imprisoned by his own fear and sin of infringing the life of a just man. The chaos and contradictions within, deprived him the joy of life. He looked for Jesus not for any grace of conversion, but to find something to pacify his conscience. If Herod had the courage to seek in Jesus the mercy of God, he would have found his peace and remain a liberated person.

Many find the same difficulty to see Jesus as true Son of God who can restore human conscience to its innocence by reconciling us to God.  By giving his own opinion about Jesus, indirectly Herod was testifying to the truth that Jesus stood in the line of the prophets who spoke in the name of God, who had the courage to denounce injustices of those in power and who knew how to give hope to the little ones. In him all the prophesies are accomplished and the prophetic liberation announced has arrived. The Gospel challenges us to assume this prophetic thrust in our Christian life seriously and courageously to confront and denounce the deceptive leadership and manipulative systems we encounter all around us. We cannot afford to close our eyes and remain indifferent any more since the Gospel in our hand is the key to conscience of humanity.

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