Memory of the Church

Memorial of Saints Cosmas and Damien (+303ca), Syrian martyrs. The tradition remembers them as doctors who took care of the sick for free. Special memory of those who dedicate their lives to the treatment and healing of the sick.

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Luke 9,7-9

Meanwhile Herod the tetrarch had heard about all that was going on; and he was puzzled, because some people were saying that John had risen from the dead, others that Elijah had reappeared, still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life. But Herod said, 'John? I beheaded him. So who is this I hear such reports about?' And he was anxious to see him.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The fame of that Teacher had even reached the court of Herod Antipas who had John the Baptist beheaded. In this psychological tension made of anxiety and fear, Herod sought to meet Jesus. It is not the desire of one who wants to listen to and understand. Herod does not know it, but the moment in which he will meet the young prophet will come, and it will be the day of the trial when Pilate decided to send him to him as a prisoner. Herod's desire to meet Jesus is not like Zacchaeus who climbed the tree or like the two Greeks who went to Phillip and Andrea to ask them to meet the Teacher. These wanted to understand the word and action of the young prophet. For this reason, they were the ones to move and to go seeking the prophet. Herod, instead, waits for Jesus to come to him. One cannot meet Jesus if one does not "get out" of oneself if one does not abandon one's pride if one remains stuck in the labyrinth of one's own psyche. The encounter with Jesus is personal, direct and even simpler like so many evangelical episodes which show us to enter into relationship with him.