Hebrews 13:1-8 / Mark 6:14-29
The book "Five people you meet in heaven" is novel written by Mitch Albom is about a man, Eddie, who died and went to heaven and met five people who significantly impacted him while he was alive.
The surprising element in the story is that Eddie was not acquainted with those five persons nor were they acquainted with each other.
Somehow their lives criss-crossed into each other and had an influence and impacted the life of Eddie without him knowing it.
It would be interesting to know how many people we are going to meet in heaven who had influenced and impacted our lives without us knowing them.
But without talking too much about who we are going to meet in heaven and about the afterlife, the 1st reading talks about this life and it urged us to " remember always to welcome strangers, for by doing this, some people have entertained angels without knowing it."
Some people are like angels who help us look beyond life on earth and to see the presence of God in all things and in everyone.
In the gospel, king Herod heard about Jesus and he was curious about Him. But in any case, he would had certainly known who John the Baptist was. After all he had ordered his execution.
John the Baptist had tried to talk some sense into Herod especially about his sin with Herodias. Herod was perplexed though he liked to listen to him.
John is gone and now Jesus appears into the scene and Herod starts thinking again. Will Herod ever realise that God is sending him people to tell him something about his life?
May we also realize that God is always present and speaking to us in the people that have come and crossed into our lives.
And when we welcome those who are the least, the last and the lonely, we are welcoming God into our lives.