Theme: AN ERA OF SEEKING MIRACLES THAN JESUS.
Thursday, September 26, 2024
Readings: Ecclesiastes 1:2-11, Psalm 90, Luke 9:7-9
We are in an era where people move from one place to another, in spiritual conferences, to different churches, to different pastors and some travel to Pilgrimage sites in search of miracles. Our curiosity ends when we do not “get the miracles” we are looking for. People of our time seem to be suffering from the Herod syndrome. We want to see Jesus out of mere curiosity and seek miracles only without a corresponding spiritual transformation.
Some of the Christians even go to the extent of having “Mountain top experiences” but when this does not impact our daily living and relationships with others leading us closer to Jesus, we are simply Herod in disguise.
Herod was a shallow man. He had no backbone. He was weak. He wanted to see Jesus out of mere curiosity. He was not interested in seeing whether there was a true prophet, perhaps even the Messiah.
Some of our political leaders are like Herod too! They love listening to religious leaders speak and advise them, (some even include religious leaders in Commissions or ministries) but they (political leaders) find it difficult like Herod to put into practice what they have been told. May be this is what Mark Twain in his logical literature affirmed when he said; “Politics is the only profession where you can steal, lie, cheat and still be respected”.
God rewards every sincere effort in our search to find him:
1. What is our interest in Jesus like? Is it shallow, merely a curiosity to know Him historically? Do we seek to know Him as Saviour, as Lord, as the Son of God?
2. What does Jesus mean to us in our everyday lives? Is Jesus real to us, not only as the risen Lord in heaven, but in the Eucharist, in the gospels ( word of God), in the Church (community life), in people (we stay and work with)? If people cannot be attracted to Jesus through the ways we live our Christian life, it means we are not living it well.
3. What would we answer if Herod asked us, “who is this man, about whom I have heard all these reports?”
The prayer for each one today should be: Jesus, I want to come to know You more and more as my personal Lord and Saviour. Amen!
Fr. Kwehangana Bagubwa Mathias,
St. Charles Lwanga Seminary Nyakibale.