2nd Week of Ordinary Time 2024 - Friday - David's humility, mercy, and peace

 Continuing our reading from the first book of Samuel, we hear of a very strange story today. To review, the anointed King Saul had hardened his heart toward God and was deemed unworthy of the kingship of Israel. So God sent Samuel to Bethlehem, where Samuel anointed the shepherd boy, David.

In his guilt, Saul sought out a skilled harpist to ease his troubled heart, and his servants located one—the very same shepherd boy that had just been anointed, David of Bethlehem. David enters into Saul’s service, and Saul comes to trust David so much that Saul makes David his personal armor-bearer. It is during this time of service of Saul, that David, guided by his faith in God, defeats the philistine giant Goliath.

David grows in fame and admiration among the people of Israel, and Saul begins to grow jealous. Desiring to keep his enemy close, Saul offers David the hand of his daughter as a bride. The two marry, and David becomes royalty. Saul sends David to the front lines of battle, and David is so successful that Saul’s jealousy escalates into hatred and he attempts to kill David with a spear. 

So, David flees into hiding, and as we heard today, as Saul is in pursuit of David, Saul, has a call of nature, and goes to relieve himself in the very cave where David was hiding. David had a chance to kill Saul. Davids cohort even urges him to take Saul’s life. But David spares Saul out of reverence for his holy anointing. Even though Saul was a bad king, and killing Saul would enable him to assume kingship of Israel, David’s faith and reverence for God guides his decision to spare Saul.

David announces his presence, giving up his advantage, and approaches Saul in a spirit of humility. And realize, Saul could have commanded his troops into the cave to slaughter David right there. Guided by faith, David makes himself vulnerable to a man who wanted him dead. David's speech moves Saul emotionally and he remembers the affection he once had for David. For the first time in many chapters, Saul calls David by name, a name he once used in friendship. And maybe it’s out of self-pity, or maybe it’s out of remorse that he had become obsessed with killing an innocent man, but Saul breaks down in tears, and the two are reconciled. 

David’s humility and faith transformed this hostile relationship—a hostility that could have had devastating effects on Israel—a civil war between the supporters of David and the supporters of Saul. David’s humility and faith healed a national division, and a broken friendship. Through David’s humility and faith, God delivered Israel and Saul from evil. 

How might God be calling you to imitate David’s example? How might God be calling you to humble yourself—to trust in God—in order to bring about the healing of division or some other good that God desires? Is there anyone in your life toward whom you might be called to imitate David’s humility and mercy? 

May we be guided by humility, mercy, peace in all of our relationships. For Jesus proclaims “blessed are the humble”, “blessed are the merciful”, “blessed are the peacemakers”. Humility, mercy, and peace are blessed. May we seek that blessedness for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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To God the Father Almighty we direct the prayers of our heart for the needs and salvation of humanity and the good of His faithful ones.

For the holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her.

For the peoples of the world, that the Lord may graciously preserve harmony among us.

For all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief.

For ourselves and our own community, that the Lord may graciously receive us as a sacrifice acceptable to himself.

For our beloved dead, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Mass is offered.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.

2nd Week of OT 2018 - Friday - Insincere Repentance and Deepest Conversion

Yesterday, King Saul, jealous of the adulation of his people for young David, seemed to heed his son, Johnathan’s wisdom, that nothing is to gained by his hatred for David. Saul swears to God that David shall not be killed. So, it might have come as a surprise, that we read this morning, a few chapters later, that Saul and three thousand of his men are hunting down David.

We read how David had the perfect chance to kill his pursuer, literally catching Saul with his pants down, but when David spares Saul’s life, and gives an impassioned speech, again showing himself to be a friend of the king, Saul weeps and acknowledges David’s goodness.

Two chapters later in first Samuel, Saul forgets his contrition, and begins to hunt David again, and David again spares Saul’s life, yet even after that, we’ll find David fleeing Saul’s murderous plots.

Many mourn for their sins, but do not truly repent of them. Many will weep when they get caught in a misdeed and have to face the consequences of their actions, but they aren’t sorry for the action, they are sorry they got caught. I hear it in the confessional often, a child confesses getting in trouble for fighting with their sibling. They aren’t confessing the fighting, they are confessing getting caught.

Saul, was for a time ashamed of his envy and hatred of David, yet he did not rid himself of the deep bitterness in his heart, and so his hatred and treachery returned.

Insincere repentance might cause our sins to sleep for a bit, but likely they will return with greater force.

The Old Testament will chronicle, not just Saul, but Israel, exhibiting over and over again, half-hearted, insincere repentance, a failure to turn to the Lord completely.

Since, we are imbued with the Spirit of Christ, who himself completely surrenders to the will of the Father,  we, the Lord’s brothers and sisters, are able to practice the profound conversion. But we must desire, pray for and work for the deep personal conversion the Lord wants for us. We will always regret not handing over to God our selfishness and insecurities, but we will never regret allowing him to convert, change, and transform. us. For in complete surrender, we find perfect joy, for his glory and the salvation of souls.

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That all members of the Church may live out their baptismal call with greater conviction and faithfulness, and turn to the Lord in their sins with sincere contrition.
That those in civic authority may submit their minds and hearts to the rule of Christ, the Prince of Peace and Hope of the nations.
That the March for Life in Washington D.C. this Friday will help to transform our culture and inspire many to adhere to the Gospel of Life.
For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.
For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.
Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

2nd Week of OT 2018 - Tuesday - Envy Kills

When David returned from slaying the giant Goliath, King Saul became jealous of his servant’s fame.  He allowed anger and resentment to shape his behavior, and he began to plot to kill David, the Lord’s anointed.  It’s not the first time we hear about envy in Scripture. In fact, it goes back to the very beginning.  Adam and Eve were envious of God, and so they ate of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in disobedience to God, and committed the first sin which would mark the race of man for all generations.

Cain was envious of his brother Abel. He let that envy turn to rage, and committed the first homicide and fratricide—murdering his brother.

The Scribes and Pharisees seemed to envy Our Lord’s authority. They refused to put their jealousy to death, and instead, they put God to death after brutally torturing Him.

Envy is listed as one of the deadly sins. It was the motive for the first murder and the worst murder. Archbishop Sheen states that, What rust is to iron, what moths are to wool, what termites are to wood, that envy is to the soul - the assassination of brotherly love.

John Vianney said, “I do not believe there is a more ugly and dangerous sin than envy because it is hidden and often covered by the attractive mantle of virtue or friendship…people will employ a hundred and one devices to conceal their envy from others.”

Envy says that if I can’t have it, you shouldn’t have it either. Cain didn’t have God’s favor, so Abel shouldn’t have it either. Saul didn’t have God’s favor, or the adulation of the people, David shouldn’t either. St Paul places envy among the works of the flesh and declares that “those who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God”

Envy often leads to explosions of rage, but I think it can just as easily lead to lives of quiet rage, and much misery. Envy has been called “the most joyless of the Seven Deadly Sins.” Envy causes us to be overly competitive and overly comparative. Achieving the object of our envy may bring a temporary pleasure, but that pleasure is fleeting and tainted and filled with regret.

In the first reading, it was the empathy of Johnathan which helped to asway the envy of Saul toward David. Johnathan, the true friend, stuck up for David, and it appeared to change Saul’s attitude. Calm, compassionate and rational thinking helps to cure the disease of envy. Generosity is especially the opposite of envy. Whereas envy brings only sorrow and pain, generosity is the seedbed of joy.

May we be delivered from all envious thoughts and pursuits, and may generosity and joy be spread among us, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all members of the Church may live out their baptismal call with greater conviction and faithfulness.

That those in civic authority may submit their minds and hearts to the rule of Christ, the Prince of Peace and Hope of the nations.

That the March for Life in Washington D.C. this Friday will help to transform our culture and inspire many to adhere to the Gospel of Life.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

Monday - 2nd Week of OT 2018 - Saul's unacceptable sacrifice

Very early on in his kingly career, Saul shows himself to be far from the ideal ruler. He is brash and impulsive and disobedient to God’s commandments. As the story progresses his becomes increasingly irrational, volatile and hostile to the commandments, he attempts to murder the Lord’s anointed, and becomes a practitioner of the occult.

In the conversation between Saul and Samuel this morning, we even see Saul adopting sort of a mocking tone. Saul claims to be doing the will of God: from his military conquests he even brought back all these animals to be sacrificed to God, even though this was contrary to the divine mandate.
Samuel reveals that Saul’s heart is far from surrender to the divine will of God: these supposed sacrifices were not pleasing to God because they were offered by a disobedient arrogant heart. Samuel equates these empty sacrifices with idolatry and sorcery, sins most contrary to right relationship with God.

We are reminded of how the sacrifice of Cain was found unacceptable to God for the same reason. The unacceptable sacrifice is a mockery; it pretends at being rightly ordered, like many Catholic politicians and leaders who claim to be Catholic all the while forwarding a morally corrupt political agenda.

But this is also a danger each of us must be on guard against, that we don’t go about play-acting at Catholicism, but that our intentions might be purely for God’s glory.

In every celebration of Mass the priest says, “pray brethren that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father”, and the congregation responds praying that the sacrifice at the altar be found acceptable. These are prayers touching on the heart of the Christian life, that our sacrifice, our lives might be rightly ordered.

The Eucharist is the acceptable sacrifice because it is the sacrifice the Son obediently makes of himself to God. It is the sacrifice offered from the humblest heart.

May our days and deeds be rightly ordered to the humble heart, the self-sacrifice of Jesus Our Lord for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all members of the Church may live out their baptismal call with greater conviction and faithfulness.

That those in civic authority may submit their minds and hearts to the rule of Christ, the Prince of Peace and Hope of the nations.

As our nation observes Martin Luther King Day, we pray for an end to racial prejudice and bigotry, for racial harmony and justice for all people.

That the March for Life in Washington D.C. this Friday will help to transform our culture and inspire many to adhere to the Gospel of Life.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord