Year: 2024

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1 Samuel 17: 32-51

David spoke to Saul:
“Let your majesty not lose courage.
I am at your service to go and fight this Philistine.”
But Saul answered David,
“You cannot go up against this Philistine and fight with him,
for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior from his youth.”

David continued:
“The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear,
will also keep me safe from the clutches of this Philistine.”
Saul answered David, “Go! the LORD will be with you.”

Then, staff in hand, David selected five smooth stones from the wadi
and put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag.
With his sling also ready to hand, he approached the Philistine.

With his shield bearer marching before him,
the Philistine also advanced closer and closer to David.
When he had sized David up,
and seen that he was youthful, and ruddy, and handsome in appearance,
the Philistine held David in contempt.
The Philistine said to David,
“Am I a dog that you come against me with a staff?”
Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods
and said to him, “Come here to me,
and I will leave your flesh for the birds of the air
and the beasts of the field.”
David answered him:
“You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar,
but I come against you in the name of the LORD of hosts,
the God of the armies of Israel that you have insulted.
Today the LORD shall deliver you into my hand;
I will strike you down and cut off your head.
This very day I will leave your corpse
and the corpses of the Philistine army for the birds of the air
and the beasts of the field;
thus the whole land shall learn that Israel has a God.
All this multitude, too,
shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves.
For the battle is the LORD’s and he shall deliver you into our hands.”

The Philistine then moved to meet David at close quarters,
while David ran quickly toward the battle line 
in the direction of the Philistine.
David put his hand into the bag and took out a stone,
hurled it with the sling,
and struck the Philistine on the forehead.
The stone embedded itself in his brow,
and he fell prostrate on the ground.
Thus David overcame the Philistine with sling and stone;
he struck the Philistine mortally, and did it without a sword.
Then David ran and stood over him;
with the Philistine’s own sword which he drew from its sheath
he dispatched him and cut off his head.

The Word of the Lord.

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One of the most famous museums in Italy is the Accademia in Florence, because it’s home to Michelangelo’s renowned statue, David. 

The statue stands at a staggering 17 feet, weighing over 12,000 pounds! The polished white marble glistens in the light. 

Every detail is noteworthy – David’s pose, his towering frame, his strikingly realistic features.

But what I find most interesting about this statue is the fact that Michelangelo depicts David before he slays Goliath. Most depictions show David after the battle has been won.

Why would Michelangelo do this?

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To remind us what it means to have faith. 

David’s confident stare and his tall, relaxed posed reveal the faith he’s placed in God. 

As we hear in our first reading, David is young and inexperienced. 

Goliath, on the other hand, is a revered warrior who towers over him. But David trusts that God is on his side, therefore victory will be his. There is nothing – no one – to fear.

Before any bystander can blink, David fills his sling with a rock, aims, and shoots, dealing Goliath a lethal blow as he falls to the ground.

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Michelangelo must’ve made this statue for a variety of reasons. But one question I imagine him asking us is, “Do I have a Goliath in my life? Something – or someone – that seems threatening, taller, stronger than me?”

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Have the faith of David, who never backed down. Knowing that God is on our side, we can face anything or anyone – even death – head on, and win.

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Image credits: (1) David, Michelangelo, Accademia (2) Ibid. (3) Freepik

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Gospel: Mark 2: 23-28

As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath,
his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.
At this the Pharisees said to him,
“Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
He said to them,
“Have you never read what David did
when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?
How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest
and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat,
and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them,
“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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There’s only one group of people whom Jesus cannot stomach. Surprisingly, perhaps, it isn’t tax collectors, prostitutes, or sinners.

He loved them all and often forgave them.

The ones whom Jesus cannot tolerate are the hardened religious leaders of his day, who pressed the Jews into following hundreds of man-made laws, including a law which forbade people from eating grain on the Sabbath, as we hear in today’s Gospel.

What good is it to follow a series of rules if doing so does not lead to an inner transformation of the heart?

This is why Jesus says elsewhere, they are like “whitewashed tombs,” religious rule-followers on the outside, but defiled within.

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Catholics also follow a series of rules. We attend Mass on Sundays. We say our prayers. We avoid eating meat on Fridays during Lent. These guidelines are meant to lead us to an inner transformation.

Receiving Jesus in the Eucharist becomes “food for the journey.” Praying the rosary allows us to intercede on behalf of others. Avoiding meat on Fridays in Lent reminds us of the sacrifice that Christ made in his flesh on the Cross.

But if we aren’t aware of why we’re doing these things – if we’re just going through the motions – then they begin losing their ultimate purpose.

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Today’s Gospel isn’t meant to upend the “rules” we follow. Rather, it’s meant to make us more aware of why we follow them. Behind each “rule” is a door that’s meant to lead us to Jesus.

Do I feel closer to the Lord while at Mass? Am I growing in devotion to his Sacred Heart through prayer? Do I believe this Lent will be a fruitful season spiritually?

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Let’s not waste either our time or our effort. Be mindful about what you’re doing – and why. Then the guidelines we follow will lead us to the Lord.

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Image credits: (1) Got Questions (2) Grace and Peace, Joanne (3) Infinum Growth

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Gospel: Mark 2:18-22

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast.
People came to Jesus and objected,
“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,
 but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them,
“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast on that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.
Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Today Americans celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who sought to stretch the hearts and minds of Americans politically, much like new wine poured into fresh wineskins.

His vision was most clearly outlined in his famous speech, I Have A Dream.

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, and live out the true meaning of its creed…that all men are created equal,” he said.

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In today’ Gospel, Jesus uses the same imagery to stretch us spiritually.

When baptized, Christians become a new creation, capable of being stretched beyond our own natural limitations. 

By God’s grace, we can not only love our neighbor, but also forgive our enemies…pray for those who persecute us… resist temptation… grow in virtue… and when the race is finished, inherit eternal life, becoming a new creation, much like new wine poured into fresh wineskins.

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Where is God stretching me spiritually? Or where might I need to be stretched?

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I can imagine Jesus reinterpreting some of Dr. King’s words to address the entire world:

“I have a dream,” he might say, “that one day this world will rise up, and live out the true meaning of its existence…to see all people as created equal, and to love them accordingly.”

May the Lord stretch us until we love one another the way that God has loved us.

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Image credits: (1) Britannica (2) UConn Community Outreach (3) Growingtolive, WordPress