There are two very different ways to ask a question.
We can ask because we want another fact.
Or we can ask because the answer might change us.
Today’s Gospel contains one of the most important questions anyone can ask about Jesus Christ. Curiously, it comes from Herod:
“Who is this man?”
Herod has heard the reports. Miracles. Healings. Preaching. Crowds. Something extraordinary is happening, and he wants to know what it is.
Yet there is a strange distance between wanting to know about Christ and wanting to know Christ.
Perhaps that is where Morning Prayer should begin today.
Not merely with what we already know about God, but with the possibility that after all these years there is still something astonishing left to discover.
Opening Verse
Lord, open my lips.
And my mouth shall declare thy praise.
Invitatory
Antiphon
Come, let us adore the Lord, for he is our God.
Psalm 94 (95)
Come let us praise the Lord with joy:
let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving;
and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
Come, let us adore the Lord, for he is our God.
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
For in his hand are all the ends of the earth:
and the heights of the mountains are his.
For the sea is his, and he made it:
and his hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us adore the Lord, for he is our God.
Come let us adore and fall down:
and weep before the Lord that made us.
For he is the Lord our God:
and we are the people of his pasture
and the sheep of his hand.
Today if you shall hear his voice,
harden not your hearts:
As in the provocation,
according to the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Where your fathers tempted me,
they proved me, and saw my works.
Come, let us adore the Lord, for he is our God.
Forty years long was I offended with that generation,
and I said: These always err in heart.
And these men have not known my ways:
So I swore in my wrath
that they shall not enter into my rest.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
Come, let us adore the Lord, for he is our God.
Psalmody
Psalm 56 (57)
Antiphon I
Arise, O my glory; arise, psaltery and harp: I will arise early.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me:
for my soul trusteth in thee.
And in the shadow of thy wings will I hope,
until iniquity pass away.
I will cry to God the most High;
to God who hath done good to me.
He hath sent from heaven and delivered me:
he hath made them a reproach that trod upon me.
God hath sent his mercy and his truth,
and he hath delivered my soul from the midst of the young lions.
I slept troubled.
The sons of men, whose teeth are weapons and arrows,
and their tongue a sharp sword.
Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens,
and thy glory over all the earth.
They prepared a snare for my feet:
and they bowed down my soul.
They dug a pit before my face,
and they are fallen into it.
My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready:
I will sing, and rehearse a psalm.
Arise, O my glory, arise psaltery and harp:
I will arise early.
I will give praise to thee, O Lord, among the people:
I will sing a psalm to thee among the nations.
For thy mercy is magnified even to the heavens:
and thy truth unto the clouds.
Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens:
and thy glory over all the earth.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
Arise, O my glory; arise, psaltery and harp: I will arise early.
Canticle — Jeremiah 31:10–14
Antiphon II
Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the islands that are afar off.
Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations,
and declare it in the islands that are afar off,
And say: He that scattered Israel will gather him:
and he will keep him as the shepherd doth his flock.
For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob,
and delivered him out of the hand of one that was mightier than he.
And they shall come, and shall give praise in mount Sion:
and they shall flow together to the good things of the Lord,
For the corn, and wine, and oil,
and the increase of cattle and herds:
And their soul shall be as a watered garden,
and they shall be hungry no more.
Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance,
the young men and old men together:
And I will turn their mourning into joy,
and will comfort them, and make them joyful after their sorrow.
And I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness:
and my people shall be filled with my good things, saith the Lord.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the islands that are afar off.
Psalm 47 (48)
Antiphon III
Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised in the city of our God.
Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised
in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.
With the joy of the whole earth is mount Sion founded,
on the sides of the north, the city of the great king.
In her houses shall God be known,
when he shall protect her.
For behold the kings of the earth assembled themselves:
they gathered together.
So they saw, and they wondered,
they were troubled, they were moved:
Trembling took hold of them.
There were pains as of a woman in labour.
With a vehement wind
thou shalt break in pieces the ships of Tharsis.
As we have heard, so have we seen,
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
In the city of our God:
God hath founded it for ever.
We have received thy mercy, O God,
in the midst of thy temple.
According to thy name, O God,
so also is thy praise unto the ends of the earth:
Thy right hand is full of justice.
Let mount Sion rejoice,
and the daughters of Juda be glad;
Because of thy judgments, O Lord.
Surround Sion, and encompass her:
tell ye in her towers.
Set your hearts on her strength;
and distribute her houses,
That ye may relate it in another generation.
For this is God, our God unto eternity, and for ever and ever:
he shall rule us for evermore.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised in the city of our God.
Short Reading
Isaiah 66:1–2
Thus saith the Lord:
Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool: what is this house that you will build to me? and what is this place of my rest?
My hand made all these things, and all these things were made, saith the Lord:
But to whom shall I have respect, but to him that is poor and little, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my words?
Short Responsory
I cried with my whole heart: hear me, O Lord.
I cried with my whole heart: hear me, O Lord.
I will keep thy justifications.
Hear me, O Lord.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
I cried with my whole heart: hear me, O Lord.
The Gospel of the Day
Luke 9:7–9
Now Herod, the tetrarch, heard of all things that were done by him; and he was in a doubt, because it was said by some that John was risen from the dead;
But by other some, that Elias had appeared; and by others, that one of the old prophets was risen again.
And Herod said:
John I have beheaded; but who is this of whom I hear such things?
And he sought to see him.
Benedictus
Antiphon
Let us serve the Lord in holiness, and he will deliver us from the hand of our enemies.
Canticle of Zachary — Luke 1:68–79
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;
because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people:
And hath raised up an horn of salvation to us,
in the house of David his servant:
As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets,
who are from the beginning:
Salvation from our enemies,
and from the hand of all that hate us:
To perform mercy to our fathers,
and to remember his holy testament,
The oath, which he swore to Abraham our father,
that he would grant to us,
That being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
we may serve him without fear,
In holiness and justice before him,
all our days.
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest:
for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways:
To give knowledge of salvation to his people,
unto the remission of their sins:
Through the bowels of the mercy of our God,
in which the Orient from on high hath visited us:
To enlighten them that sit in darkness,
and in the shadow of death:
to direct our feet into the way of peace.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
Let us serve the Lord in holiness, and he will deliver us from the hand of our enemies.
Intercessions
Christ comes to us at the beginning of another day. Let us ask him to open our eyes to his presence and bless the work entrusted to us.
Lord, open our eyes to thee.
Lord Jesus, Herod heard many reports about thee but did not yet know thee:
Keep us from being satisfied merely with knowing things about thee. Draw us into friendship with thee through prayer, Scripture, the sacraments, and lives of charity.
Lord, open our eyes to thee.
Thou hast made heaven and earth, yet thou dost look with favor upon the humble and contrite heart:
Deliver us from the desire to appear important, and teach us the freedom of humility.
Lord, open our eyes to thee.
For Pope Leo, our bishops, priests, deacons, religious, missionaries, teachers, and all who proclaim the Gospel:
May their words lead others not merely to information about Christ, but to an encounter with Christ himself.
Lord, open our eyes to thee.
For those who have questions about faith; for those who have drifted away from the Church; for those who are curious but uncertain; and for those who sincerely seek the truth:
Give them courage to keep asking, and place faithful companions along their road.
Lord, open our eyes to thee.
For those beginning their work this morning:
Bless the work of our hands. Keep us honest in what we make, patient with those with whom we work, attentive to details that matter, and humble enough to learn something we did not know yesterday.
Lord, open our eyes to thee.
For our families:
Protect us from the strange blindness that can make familiar people invisible. Let us look again at those we love and recognize how extraordinary it is that they have been given to us.
Lord, open our eyes to thee.
For those weary of repetition — another morning, another commute, another appointment, another load of laundry, another meal to prepare, another problem to solve:
Reveal the new grace hidden within apparently old things.
Lord, open our eyes to thee.
For the sick, the lonely, the grieving, the anxious, and all who have asked for our prayers:
Give comfort to those who suffer and make us attentive to anyone whose burden we might help carry.
Lord, open our eyes to thee.
For those who have died:
May the God whom they sought through signs and shadows reveal himself to them face to face.
Lord, open our eyes to thee.
And for ourselves:
Preserve in us the capacity for wonder. Keep us from becoming so familiar with thy gifts that we cease to see them.
Lord, open our eyes to thee.
Our Father
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.
Concluding Prayer
Almighty and eternal God,
at the beginning of this new day, open our eyes to the wonders of thy creation and our hearts to the presence of thy Son.
Keep us from seeking Christ merely as a curiosity or speaking of him merely as an idea. Give us the humility to follow where truth leads, the courage to be changed by what we discover, and the wisdom to recognize thee in the ordinary duties and encounters of this day.
Bless the work of our hands, comfort those who suffer, guide those who seek thee, and bring us at last to behold thee face to face.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Blessing
May the Lord bless us,
and keep us from all evil,
and bring us unto everlasting life.
Amen.
The Paradox of the Day
We can spend our whole lives looking at the world without ever noticing how strange it is that there is a world to look at.
Herod’s question is surprisingly good.
“Who is this?”
He has heard extraordinary reports. Something is happening in Galilee that does not fit comfortably into the categories available to him.
Some say John the Baptist has returned.
Some say Elijah.
Others think one of the ancient prophets has arisen.
Herod has a problem.
He already knows the answer cannot be John.
He knows exactly what happened to John.
He had his head cut off.
And now something new has entered Herod’s world.
He wants to see Jesus.
That sounds promising.
But the Gospel leaves us with an uncomfortable question:
What sort of seeing does Herod want?
There is a way of looking at Christ that never becomes faith.
There is a way of asking questions that never risks an answer.
And there is a way of being curious about Christianity without ever allowing Christianity to become curious about us.
Chesterton for the Morning
G. K. Chesterton wrote:
“There is no such thing on earth as an uninteresting subject; the only thing that can exist is an uninterested person.”
— G. K. Chesterton, Heretics, “On Mr. Rudyard Kipling and Making the World Small”
Chesterton’s sentence sounds at first like a defense of enthusiasm.
It is considerably more dangerous than that.
Because if Chesterton is right, boredom may tell us less about the world than it tells us about ourselves.
A Chestertonian Meditation
There is something wonderfully familiar about Herod in today’s Gospel.
He has heard about Jesus.
Everybody seems to be talking about him.
Herod wants to know what is going on.
We can almost imagine the conversation.
“Who is this fellow?”
“Well, some people say John the Baptist.”
Herod immediately sees a technical difficulty with this theory.
“John I have beheaded.”
Whatever else may be said about Herod, he has remembered this particular administrative detail.
So perhaps Elijah has returned.
Perhaps one of the prophets has arisen.
There are rumors everywhere.
And Herod wants to see Jesus.
That last sentence is the fascinating one.
Because wanting to see Jesus sounds like the beginning of discipleship.
It isn’t necessarily.
There is curiosity that opens a door.
And there is curiosity that peers through a keyhole.
Herod’s curiosity appears to be of the second sort.
He wants Jesus explained.
He wants the phenomenon identified.
He wants the strange new thing placed safely into a category.
We do this constantly.
A strange bird appears in the garden, and we want to know its name.
A peculiar noise comes from the engine, and we want to know which bearing is failing.
A new person arrives in town, and we want to know where he came from.
A mysterious object appears in the night sky, and within minutes half the world is demanding to know whether it is a balloon, a satellite, an airplane, or visitors from Alpha Centauri.
There is nothing wrong with any of this.
Naming things is part of the human vocation.
Adam himself begins by naming the animals.
But there is a peculiar danger in thinking that once we have named a thing, we have exhausted its mystery.
Suppose a child asks:
“What is that?”
And we say:
“A tree.”
Perfectly correct.
But consider what we have just called a tree.
It is a living thing that begins as something small enough to hold between two fingers and somehow knows how to construct a trunk, branches, leaves, roots, flowers, and fruit.
It drinks invisible gases from the air.
It pulls water out of darkness beneath the ground.
It converts sunlight into living tissue.
It survives winters.
It manufactures thousands of leaves and then throws them all away.
And next spring it does it again.
We say:
“Tree.”
And walk past.
Chesterton spent much of his life trying to recover from this peculiar human disease.
Not ignorance.
Familiarity.
He suspected that one of the great spiritual dangers was not that we would fail to understand the world, but that we would understand it just well enough to stop looking at it.
That is why his line from Heretics is so good:
“There is no such thing on earth as an uninteresting subject; the only thing that can exist is an uninterested person.”
The obvious objection is that Chesterton never attended some of our meetings.
Nevertheless, his point stands.
We are surrounded by things that would be absolutely astonishing if we encountered them only once.
The sunrise, for example.
Imagine that the sun rose only once every hundred years.
Nobody would sleep the night before.
Families would travel hundreds of miles.
Hotels would be booked for years.
Scientists would set up instruments.
Television networks would begin coverage at midnight.
People would stand silently on hillsides waiting.
And then the edge of a star ninety-three million miles away would appear over the horizon and turn the entire eastern sky gold.
People would weep.
Someone would propose marriage.
Someone else would write a dreadful poem.
And everyone would tell their grandchildren:
I saw the sunrise.
Fortunately, the sun makes the mistake of doing this every morning.
So we close the curtains.
The same thing happens with people.
A newborn baby is astonishing.
Everyone looks at the tiny fingers.
Everyone marvels at the eyes.
Everyone wants to hold this extraordinary new person.
Then twenty years pass.
Thirty.
Forty.
And familiarity performs its trick.
We stop seeing a miracle and start seeing the person who left the cupboard door open again.
Marriage can suffer from this.
Family life can suffer from it.
Friendship can suffer from it.
Faith can suffer from it most of all.
The first time someone seriously encounters Christianity, its claims are almost preposterously enormous.
God exists.
God created everything.
God entered his own creation.
The eternal Word became a baby.
God ate breakfast.
God had friends.
God wept.
God was killed.
God rose from the dead.
Bread and wine become his Body and Blood.
Our sins can actually be forgiven.
Death is not the end.
We hear these things often enough and eventually respond:
“Yes, yes. Christianity.”
As though we had just identified the tree.
This may be the deeper danger in Herod’s question.
“Who is this?”
He wants an identification.
John?
Elijah?
A prophet?
But Jesus will not fit inside any of those boxes.
And sooner or later the question changes.
It is no longer:
Who do people say this man is?
It becomes the question Jesus himself asks:
Who do you say that I am?
Now the observer is involved.
That is the difference between curiosity and discipleship.
Curiosity asks what the thing is.
Discipleship asks what I must do because it is true.
Herod eventually does see Jesus.
Saint Luke will bring them together during the Passion.
And the result is one of the saddest scenes in the Gospel.
Herod is delighted.
At last!
The famous wonder-worker has arrived.
Herod hopes Jesus will perform a miracle for him.
He asks questions.
Jesus gives him nothing.
No trick.
No demonstration.
No entertainment.
Herod has finally seen Jesus, and somehow he still does not see him.
That is a frightening possibility.
It is possible to stand directly in front of the mystery and remain interested only in the spectacle.
And that brings us back to Thursday morning.
There is probably nothing spectacular about it.
The alarm rings.
Coffee.
Breakfast.
A shower.
Work.
Email.
School.
Laundry.
Appointments.
Bills.
A dog that needs to go outside.
The same streets.
The same desk.
The same people.
Qoheleth says in today’s first reading:
“Nothing under the sun is new.”
Chesterton seems to say almost the opposite.
Everything is astonishing.
But perhaps they are not contradicting each other.
Qoheleth is describing the weary eye.
The sun rises.
The sun sets.
The wind circles.
The rivers run.
Generations come and go.
If we look for salvation in novelty, eventually novelty itself becomes old.
Chesterton proposes another possibility.
What if the problem isn’t that the sun keeps rising?
What if the problem is that we have stopped being surprised by it?
Christianity does not promise us an endless supply of new worlds to keep us entertained.
It gives us new eyes with which to see this one.
That may be one of the purposes of Morning Prayer.
We stop.
We repeat ancient words.
We pray psalms prayed by people thousands of years ago.
We say the same Our Father.
Tomorrow we will probably say it again.
Nothing new under the sun.
And yet the person saying it is alive.
The morning has never existed before.
September 24, 2026 has never happened before and will never happen again.
The people at our breakfast table will never again be exactly the age they are today.
Neither will we.
There will never be another Thursday precisely like this Thursday.
Suddenly repetition becomes something else.
It becomes gift.
Perhaps that is why children can say “again” a hundred times.
Read it again.
Push me again.
Tell the story again.
Chesterton believed there was something divine hidden in that childish appetite for repetition.
The adult says:
“We’ve done this already.”
The child says:
“Again!”
And perhaps God looks at the sunrise with something closer to the child’s delight than the adult’s boredom.
So today we might borrow Herod’s question while refusing Herod’s mistake.
Who is this?
Who is Christ?
Not merely what have I heard about him.
Not merely what category have I placed him in.
Who is he?
And perhaps we can extend that question to the ordinary world around us.
What is this morning?
Who is this person sitting across from me?
What is this work I have been given?
What is this strange green thing growing beside the road?
What is this enormous blue sky?
What is this life?
The answers may be familiar.
But the things themselves are not.
Chesterton was right.
The world is not boring.
We have merely become used to it.
And perhaps grace begins when we look again.
May God preserve in us today the humility to ask questions, the courage to accept their answers, and the childlike astonishment to recognize his gifts even when we have seen them a thousand times before.
The sunrise is old. This morning is new.
Chesterton Radio