Today's Readings
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Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
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Reading I
Reading I: 2 Samuel 5:1-7, 10
All the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron and said:
“Here we are, your bone and your flesh.
In days past, when Saul was our king,
it was you who led the children of Israel out and brought them back.
And the LORD said to you, ‘You shall shepherd my people Israel
and shall be commander of Israel.’”
When all the elders of Israel came to David in Hebron,
King David made an agreement with them there before the LORD,
and they anointed him king of Israel.
David was thirty years old when he became king,
and he reigned for forty years:
seven years and six months in Hebron over Judah,
and thirty-three years in Jerusalem
over all Israel and Judah.
Then the king and his men set out for Jerusalem
against the Jebusites who inhabited the region.
David was told, “You cannot enter here:
the blind and the lame will drive you away!”
which was their way of saying, “David cannot enter here.”
But David did take the stronghold of Zion, which is the City of David.
David grew steadily more powerful,
for the LORD of hosts was with him.
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Psalm
Psalm: Psalm 89:20, 21-22, 25-26
R. (25a) My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
Once you spoke in a vision,
and to your faithful ones you said:
“On a champion I have placed a crown;
over the people I have set a youth.”
R. My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
“I have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him,
That my hand may be always with him,
and that my arm may make him strong.”
R. My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
“My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him,
and through my name shall his horn be exalted.
I will set his hand upon the sea,
his right hand upon the rivers.”
R. My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
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Gospel
Alleluia: See 2 Timothy 1:10
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.Gospel: Mark 3:22-30
The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus,
“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and
“By the prince of demons he drives out demons.”
Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables,
“How can Satan drive out Satan?
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house is divided against itself,
that house will not be able to stand.
And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided,
he cannot stand;
that is the end of him.
But no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property
unless he first ties up the strong man.
Then he can plunder his house.
Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies
that people utter will be forgiven them.
But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will never have forgiveness,
but is guilty of an everlasting sin.”
For they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
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Living faith
Hasty Conclusions
"The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, "He is possessed by Beelzebul..." (Mark 3:22)
Although the works of Jesus flowed from a heart rooted in God's mercy, Justice and love, he was slandered by those in respected positions. We don't know why the scribes were blind to the goodness of Jesus and eager to believe that his healing words and actions were an expression of evil. Perhaps they were afraid of his growing popularity and what it might mean for them.
Before we are too hard on the scribes, hopefully we can acknowledge the times when we have unjustly condemned someone. There have been instances when I have been on both the giving as well as the receiving end of false accusations. The temptation to accuse others of evil intentions is especially great today as divisions deepen. Daily contemplative prayer helps me examine my own heart and recognize when I have jumped to a hasty conclusion. Sooner or later, the integrity of anyone's actions will be apparent by its fruit.
Terri Mifek
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The Word Among Us
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"The Lord of hosts was with him." (2 Samuel 5:10)
We see David in today's first reading as he is being anointed king by all the elders of Israel. David's story fills forty chapters in the first and second books of Samuel with tales of success and failure. But across that vast span of time, a common theme emerges for David that can also apply to us: "The Lord was with him."
It's easy to see evidence that the Lord was with David: he was anointed by the prophet Samuel and defeated Goliath with just a stone and a slingshot (1 Samuel 16:13, 17:1-50). He evaded King Saul's attempts to kill him and showed mercy to Saul on many occasions (chapters 16-31). He conquered Israel's enemies and triumphantly brought the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6).
But there were also times that David disobeyed or strayed from the Lord. He conspired to kill Uriah after David took Uriah's wife as his own. He also failed to defend his daughter Tamar from his violent son Amnon (2 Samuel 11, 13). Even in his last years, David disobeyed the Lord and took a census of the people of Israel to assess their strength at the end of his reign (chapter 24).
Considering his inconsistent history, how can we understand what seems like an unconditional statement: GOD WAS WITH DAVID?
The truth is, God's love for David did not rise and fall with David's action. The Lord knew him inside and out. Yes, David had potential for greatness, and yes, he had his weaknesses. But even when David was mired in sin, there was still some part of him that wanted to please the Lord. Even when he disobeyed, his heart was open enough to hear the call to repentance and see the error of his ways.
That can be a lesson for us. Like David, we have been blessed by God, but his love for us isn't won by our good behavior. Even when we're lost in sin, God is still beside us, always prepared to take us back. That's when our hearts need to be like David's--ready to hear and respond to God's call to repentance, always trusting that he is with us.
"Lord, thank you for your unfailing love for David. Help me to be like David in my response to you."
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Today's Good News
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"Whoever blasphemes agaist the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness..." (Mark 3:29)
What is the sin against the Holy Spirit that cannot be forgiven? It is nowhere specified in the New Testament. The opponents of Jesus maintain that he does good by the power of evil. The sin them would be to call light darkness and good evil. Since all sins can be forgiven, the dictum about this sin places it in the category of being most serious. It was one thing for a person who followed Jesus to find his teaching unacceptable. It was quite another to accuse him of being an instrument of evil. Jesus states clearly that if such were the case it would mean that he and Satan were working against each other. Satan then would have a divided kingdom, and his efforts would be lost....Christ has dealt effectively with evil. He died once for all sins ever committed.
Roland J. Faley
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