Who Then is This?

Who Then is This?

September 27, 2012

Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, priest

All rivers go to the sea, yet never does the sea become full.  To the place where they go,
the rivers keep on going.  All speech is labored; there is nothing one can say.   The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor is the ear satisfied with hearing.  Ecclesiastes 2:7-8

Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying "John has been raised from the dead"…But Herod said, "John I beheaded.  Who then is this about whom I hear such things?"  And he kept trying to see him.  Luke 9:7,9

Piety

Father, take from our lives all the vain and meaningless pursuits.  Give to us Jesus, the motivation to set right our relationship with you.  Breathe into us, Holy Spirit, the inspiration we need to fear God and follow the commandments.  Amen.

Study

Herod hears about Jesus and seeks out the Lord.  Yet he does so for all the wrong reasons.  John the Baptist had afflicted the comfortable Herod and lost his head.  Herod is not satisfied with what he sees and hears in the aftermath.  He thought he had taken control of his "religious" problem child in John only to find someone greater has taken John's place.  And this new preacher was not content to stay out in the desert wilderness. Jesus comes into the towns and cities and temples to teach his lessons. 

The lives of all people -- the wise and the foolish, the powerful and the lowly -- all end in death.  Ah! But what kind of death will it be?  Herod may hold in his hands the power to end the life of John and Jesus, but in doing so, he unleashes the forces that grant eternal life.  What kind of life will the vain and controlling Herod have after death? 

Action

If everything under the sun is vanity, then what are we do to?  The best course of action is to set our sights on goals that are above the Sun/Son.  Focus not on the things that control this life but rather on the things that control eternal life.

Let us not ask how to maximize our retirement account or get a mortgage on a bigger house.  Instead seek out the answer to the question, "Who is Jesus to me?"   Are we satisfied with what we hear and what we see about the Lord?  Are we ready for the answer that comes from the Son?

Do we seek to know God, to love God and to serve God?  If so, why?  Out of a sense of personal ambition and control or to genuinely walk with God in mutual humility and obedience?

Let us seek to put our relationship with the Lord on the solid ground of respect, honor and worship.