The people of Judah have returned from their exile in Babylon and God, through the prophet Haggai, is calling them to rebuild the temple which will again be the house that God will “take pleasure in” and “receive” his “glory” (Haggai 1:8).

Herod is hearing the stories about Jesus, teaching with authority, freeing people from possession, healing people such that the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, and he wonders, “Who then is this about whom I hear such things?”And he kept trying to see him (Luke: 9:9).

Our loving God and Father welcomed his chosen people back home after freeing them from their time of exile and sought to dwell with them again, to have his house among them, even though generation after generation they turned away from him. Herod who had John the Baptist executed because of a foolish vow is having a tug at his mind, and could it even be a tug of his heart to come to know his Son, Jesus?

The psalmist gives us not only the interpretive key for these readings but the whole of the Bible. “The Lord takes delight in his people” (Psalm 149:4).

He took delight in his chosen people and still does, he took delight in Herod even though he killed one of his prophets, and he takes delight in each one of us. He has loved us before time began, he knew us before we were in our mother’s womb, he loves us more than we can ever imagine, and more than we can ever mess up.

God delights in you this morning. God is looking at you and loving you as you are right now as you read these words. You are precious in his eyes, he cherishes, and adores you.

I invite you to receive this truth, breath it into the depth of your souls.

Because every word is true. Yes, God loves you and me with all our imperfections, “pride, fear of not being loved, the conviction of how little we are worth,” and all the other lies the enemy fills our minds with.

If any thought other than how much God is loving you right now is coming into your mind, renounce it right now in Jesus’ name. It is a lie. Breathe slowly and allow yourself to sit in God’s presence, continue to breathe, for: “Only under the gaze of God can we fully and truly accept ourselves” (p. 35, Interior Freedom, Jacques Philippe).

I invite you to accept that you are a beloved daughter or son of God loved unconditionally. Continue to rest and abide in his gaze of love. Believe, carry, and return throughout the day to these words that he offers you through another prophet, Isaiah: “You are precious in my eyes, and honored, I love you” (Isaiah 43:4).

Photo: Evening Rosary walk, St. Vincent De Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, September 28, 2023