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September 24, 2009
Thursday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time
Hag 1: 1-8; Lk 9: 7-9
Dc. Larry Brockman
Years ago Johnny Carson used to feature a young fellow named Bob every once and a while who was the consummate procrastinator. He would put off just about everything till later, and make a joke about it. It was a great routine. It was funny, but at the same time it often hit home, because all of us procrastinate, all of us put off some important tasks as we go through life.Â
Herod was such a man. Fascinated by reports of both St. John the Baptist and Jesus, Herod wanted to know more. The Gospel says of Herod “And he kept trying to see him”. So basically he procrastinated- he put it off.Â
We can only speculate on the reason. Was it because he was too lazy? Was it because he thought he was too busy- preoccupied with his important position? Or perhaps it was it because he wanted Jesus to come to him, a man of importance, rather than He, Herod, making the first step?Â
Now sometimes we wait to do something important as well. And we will use excuses like the ones above. When you think about it, the three reasons boil down to this: laziness, arrogance, and pride. That sounds kind of harsh, but when you cut away all the words around the excuses, these are what remain. The devil knows how to use these human tendencies, and he is active and alive in procrastinators because the easiest of all things to do, is to do nothing at all.Â
Yet, some of the things that we put on the back burner are important-Â resolving problems with those we love; confessing our sins and making restitution; making changes that we know are needed in our lives; and lot’s of other things.Â
The bottom line is this. The Gospel is not just talking about Herod. The Gospel is talking about us.Â