We call it ‘peer pressure’ -- when you have done something that you didn’t really want to do, but others convinced you to do it. Of course, peer pressure works both ways: it can encourage you to do something good and positive, but more often to do something bad or even stupid. Herod, from the Gospel reading today, didn’t want to kill John the Baptist. He actually thought of John the Baptist as a great prophet. He feared him, but because of strong peer pressure, Herod did something he didn’t want to do. I am sure he even regretted it. We should be careful not to always follow the advice of other people, especially those who encourage us to do something wrong. Think about that today -- how many times in your life did you make a bad choices because of the pressure of others, and how many times did you actually do something positive? We have to ask the Lord for the courage to say NO, when others convince us to choose evil over good.
