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...."
A long time ago, back in the sixties and seventies, the priest or preacher who mentioned the Vietnam War or the Civil Rights Movement was often told to leave the politics out of church. The grumblers wanted a "spiritual message" only. Even Protestants raised the complaint despite their claim to be familiar with the scriptures. A few years later some teachers, in the same vein, advocated "value-free" education, a strange beast if there ever was one.
More recently, since many self-identified Christians have joined the political debates to advocate pro-life or pro-choice, environmental concerns, race relations, or gun control, we might be more ready to recognize the political context of our scriptures.
Politics is life. It is the matrix of complex relations in which we all live, which Jesus blessed by his Incarnate Presence. Today's gospel reminds us of the political context of Jesus' ministry. The tetrarch Herod was a nephew of the infamous "Herod the Great," a mad king given to indiscriminate murder. In the "game" that was the Roman Empire, the tetrarch, a minor ruler under Rome, struggled against and conspired with the procurator in Jerusalem, Pontius Pilate. Losers in the game died, winners lived to play another day. Contestants hated one another and especially despised intruders who might play by another set of rules, who might change the game. Jesus, regardless of his intention to announce his "Kingdom of God", threatened Romans, Herodians, Sadducees, Essenes, and Pharisees, to name a few.
Some apologists have suggested Jesus' "kingdom" was only "spiritual," and it could never really threaten this world's powers. Herod and Pilate knew better, and so did he. The same inane explanation would neutralize our Catholic sacraments as "symbolic" and essentially meaningless.
Along the same lines they'll say that some television programs are only entertainment. They don't mean anything. If they're saturated with sexualized violence, it's all in good fun. Wasn't blackface all in good fun? And Bennie Hill, the English comedian; his sexist skits and obscene leer were funny, weren't they? Nobody meant any harm.
But it was harmful and the harm was intentional. The women and African-Americans who were mocked, they knew what was intended.
Today the Church remembers the martyrs Cosmos and Damien. We know little of their story; much of their history is shrouded in myth. But we remember these men were not pretending to believe in God as they practiced medicine, offering their services free of charge to the poor. They were very serious about their consecration to the Crucified even as the authorities first threatened them, and then executed them. If the day should ever come when Christians will not risk their lives for the faith, we will know our faith is truly apolitical and only symbolic.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.