CCC 210-211: God of mercy
CCC 1825, 1935, 1968, 2303, 2647, 2842-2845: Forgiveness of enemies
CCC 359, 504: Christ as the New Adam
 |
| “Saul and David” Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, c. 1655 |
Commentary:
First Reading: 1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
Commentary on 1 Sm 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
This passage depicts the last meeting between King Saul and David, his ultimate successor. David’s king-like character is shown here as he prevents Abishai, a rather violent person (2 Samuel 19:22) and a son of David’s sister (see 1 Chronicles 2:16), from killing Saul as he slept. This encounter shows not only the positive trait of mercy in David, but also God’s favor on him as Abner, Saul’s body guard, and the king are put into a deep sleep, presumably by God. This refusal on the part of David to harm “the LORD’s anointed” echoes his earlier statement in chapter 24 (1 Samuel 24; 7).
“The text once again shows David’s compassion and mercy (‘the Lord gave you into my hand today…’: v. 23); we can see in him the future king, because mercy is a perfection proper to God and therefore a virtue to be expected of any representative of his and of everyone who wants to be like God (cf. Luke 6:36).” [5]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13
R. (8a) The Lord is kind and merciful.
Commentary on Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13
Psalm 103 is a hymn of praise (and thanksgiving). It is a simple and beautiful reaction to God’s goodness. Remembering God’s promise of mercy for the innocent, these strophes praise God for his compassion and give thanks for his salvation.
CCC: Ps 103 304
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading 2: 1 Corinthians 15:45-49
Commentary on 1 Cor 15:45-49
St. Paul uses the analogy of the creation of the first earthly being Adam, and compares that physical form to the first born of the dead in Christ, who had both earthly form and became the “New Adam” in the resurrection.
St. Paul is eloquent in describing the difference between the earthly form and the resurrected body. Where the earthly form may be flawed, the spiritual body in the resurrection will be perfect. He envisions a resurrected body with the qualities of glory, power, and spirituality which is a creation in God’s heavenly image. “The contrast between Adam and Christ shows that by nature we get a body from Adam that is physical, earthly, and mortal; and by grace we expect a body from Christ that is spiritual, heavenly, and immortal (1 Corinthians 15:21-22). Paul draws on Genesis 2:7 to hint that Adam’s creation bears a certain likeness to Christ’s Resurrection. Just as Adam’s body was raised from the earth by the breath of natural life, so Christ’s body was raised from the earth by the Spirit of supernatural life. It is this life-giving Spirit, now channeled to the world through the sacrament of Christ’s risen humanity, that will raise our bodies also (Romans 8:11).” [6]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Luke 6:27-38
Commentary on Lk 6:27-38
This passage from St. Luke’s Gospel continues the Sermon on the Plain. In this section, Jesus extends the commandment to love one’s neighbor to include one’s enemy, breaking new ground in the interpretation of Mosaic Law. What follows is an extension of each of the laws governing hospitality and continues by extending even the judicial laws that govern dispute resolution. In the conclusion of this section, the Lord exhorts the disciples to embrace forgiveness, saying, “For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
CCC: Lk 6:28 1669; Lk 6:31 1789, 1970; Lk 6:36 1458, 2842
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
There are times when most Christians wish that God had created us without free will; that he had given us a perfect sense of obedience the way the angels were created. If that were the case, there would be no crime, no want, and no war. Why? Because every person would love God and obedience to God’s law would dominate their will. Such a world, however, would not be the paradise we might imagine. Rather, it would be like a slave camp, every person doing what they must do with no sense of freedom of thought.
It is for this purpose that the author of 1 Samuel wrote about the virtue of mercy so eloquently expressed by David. Saul, his archenemy and would-be assassin, was lying asleep at his feet. He only needed to accept his servant's offer to kill Saul and that danger and his persecution would end. Yet King Saul was anointed by God and David would not betray his God through disobedience. We should be mindful of the quote from the Navarre Commentary on this passage, which in turn points to our Gospel: “because mercy is a perfection proper to God and therefore a virtue to be expected of any representative of his and of everyone who wants to be like God.”
If we were created without free will, the Lord would not have found it necessary to clarify the words of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) and Leviticus 19:18 which were combined to create his Great Commandment: Love God and love others. And this is exactly what he does in Luke’s account of his “Sermon on the Plain.” We are reminded that we must not only love those who love us, but love those who hate us. We must not only be generous to those who would reciprocate and be generous to us, but give freely to those from whom we should expect no repayment.
This is the great challenge of discipleship. Oh, we may find it easy to be virtuous to the poor whom we do not know personally, or charitable to organizations that serve them. But what about the son-in-law who beats your daughter, or the neighbor who screams obscenities at your children? Where is your Christian love when these kinds of personal attacks occur? And I don’t think I have to mention the political divisions that are common now. Where is our love for those who oppose our views?
The Lord's words need to strike a chord within our hearts today. We were not created with absolute obedience to God, but our Savior expects us to develop that attitude of our own free will.
Pax
[1] Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2] The picture is “Saul and David” Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, c. 1655.
[5] The Navarre Bible: “Joshua-Kings”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, p. 301
[6] Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. p. 308.
No comments:
Post a Comment