Gospel (Lk 9,7-9) - At that time, the tetrarch Herod heard about all these events and did not know what to think, because some said: «John has risen from the dead», others: «Elijah has appeared», and still others: «One of the ancients has risen prophets." But Herod said: «John, I had him beheaded; So who is this, about whom I hear these things?”. And he tried to see it.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

The fame of Jesus had also reached the court of Herod Antipas who had John the Baptist beheaded. Herod, in this psychological tension made of anxiety and fear, was trying to meet Jesus. However, this is not the desire of those who want to listen and understand. Herod doesn't know it, but the time will come when he will meet that young prophet, and it will be on the day of the trial, when Pilate decided to send him as a prisoner. Herod's desire to meet Jesus is not like that of Zacchaeus who climbed the tree or like that of the two Greeks who went to Philip and Andrew to ask them to meet the teacher. They wanted to understand and understand the words and actions of that young prophet. For this reason they were the ones who moved and went in search of that prophet. Herod, on the other hand, waits for Jesus to come to him. You do not meet the Lord if you do not "exit" yourself, if you do not abandon your pride, if you remain entangled in the labyrinth of your psyche. The encounter with Jesus is personal, direct, and even simple, as many evangelical episodes show us.