Readings: ECCL 1:2-11,
PS 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 AND 17BC,
LK 9:7-9 Full Readings
WHAT REPUTATION DO YOU HAVE?
Brethren, in today’s Gospel we are presented with the perplexity of Herod caused by hearing that another prophet (Jesus) has rose up after he had mercilessly beheaded John the Baptist. Jesus was performing works and miracles and preaching with authority far more than John the Baptist. People thought that it was John baptized who had risen up, or Elijah or one of the Great prophets has resurfaced. Why was Herod perplexed (guilty conscience of the past)? First because he had beheaded JB who was very innocent, even his conscience was telling. To hear the news that John Baptist has risen back (remember there was no belief in resurrection among the Sadducees) and is doing more works than before had nothing but to make him afraid and fearful. Who is then is this? Herod asked, (cf Luke 9:20 =who do people say I am?). He confesses that he murdered John Baptist and even sought to see Jesus. This seeking was only out of curiosity but not by inspiration to know and hear the word of God. Luke does not tell us if he met him but it was a preparation for Herod to meet Jesus in the passion narrative (Luke 23:8-12). Some reflections from the Gospel.
- What reputation do you have? Like the one of John Baptist and prophets so that many people will always give reference to you? Reputation is not self-glory neither is it sought. When one goes around seeking reputation, he or she will get a negative reputation. Reputation depend on our beliefs, on how we live our lives, our words and actions. What we do is enough to give us the good reputation just as John, Elijah and all the prophets were bold and confident to stand for the truth and were made reference to.
- Nothing can stop the spread of the Gospel, Herod beheaded John the Baptist, Jesus came up, they killed him, apostles also were killed, and many people from then have been tortured and killed but the Gospel is still being preached. Even us, we are here to continue the preaching of the Gospel.
- It also invites us to examine ourselves on what motivation do we have for seeking and following Jesus. Herod sought to see Jesus only by curiosity even with a plan of killing him like John the Baptist. For us what is our motivations of seeking and following Jesus? Hope all of us are seeking for heaven and if not, let us check our motivations.
The message of the first
reading is quite absurd. All is vanity as the preacher says. This message
ignites in us many questions like: if all is vanity, what is the use of doing
good? Can we really make a difference even when we put most of our efforts in
bringing change, for even the preacher says nothing is ne under the Sun? What
is the use of doing what I am doing now if all is vanity (waking up early for
prayers, going for work, and others)? These and more questions arise in us in
order to understand if really all is vanity.
However, brethren all is
not vanity. To understand the message of today’s first reading we need to
understand its literary form and its historical situation in which it was
written. Firstly, the preacher does not mention God anywhere in his sermon, he himself
moreover is a believer and secondly, it is written around 3rd
century BC and was meant to challenge the Jewish philosophy of life. From these
observations, we can conclude that the preacher was talking about life without
God. Life without God is vanity, this message is for those who live as if God
does not matter. As Christians, belief in God gives us the meaning of our life.
The preacher asks, what
profit is man’s labor as he toils under the sun which is the same message that
Jesus asks in Mark 8:36, “what will it profit a man if he gains the whole
world and loses his own soul?” This question confirms the message of the
preacher, that life without God is vanity, it is useless and has no meaning.
God gives meaning to our lives and He did this through His son Jesus Christ.
We are perhaps all aware
of the statement, Nihil sub sole novum, (there is nothing new under the sun)
which the preacher talks about today. He may be right, but for us Christians
through Jesus Christ and his Spirit we became new creatures, as witnessed in
the Gospels. Jesus gives us a new commandment, a new family, a new covenant and
we became new creatures. Jesus gives us a new meaning and he himself is a sign (through
his life, death and resurrection) that God gave to show us that our lives have
a meaning, however we need to grab this meaning by believing in him and living
according to his will. He makes the obvious things, life and death to have a
meaning, life to be a life of love for God and others (self-giving) and death
as a way to gain eternal life.
Brethren, the time is now
to grab the meaning of our lives, not tomorrow or another day and the psalm
gives us a clue on how to go about it, as it says: teach us to number our days
so that we may gain the wisdom of heart, to God a thousand years is like
yesterday or a watch at night. This shows us that our life is like a blink of
the eye or the flash of the camera and realizing this makes us continue in
discerning, with the help of God, the meaning of our lives. Remember, we become
unique because of fulfilling our dreams not because we put on well or our names
are sweet to be mentioned by everyone but having time for important things. This
is what makes our reputation good. However, we can also try to make everything
vanity when we think we don’t need God in our lives and live our lives
recklessly (one priest in Uganda calls it a life of eating drinking and
committing adultery.)
Let us pray today that
the Holy Spirit will continue to inspire us and guide us to discover the real
meaning of our lives, because discovering the meaning of our lives will not
only benefit us but also our families, our community, our friends and the whole
world. We also pray that we should try by all means to live a life that gives
us good reputation rather than a negative one. Amen.
Be blessed
May I always have good reputation
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