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The Shepherd's Voice
Today’s first reading is easily overshadowed by the Gospel, in part because the Gospel is so long, but also because we think we know this story already. God chooses David to be king, and the lesson is to not judge by outward appearances because that’s not how God judges. Or perhaps the lesson is not to dismiss someone’s ideas or leadership because of their youth, because God doesn’t make those distinctions, either. Both of those lessons are true, but there’s a deeper lesson at work here, one that requires a little bit of context.
It’s important to remember that God did not necessarily want His people to be ruled by a king. That seemed superfluous, because they already had the law and a particular, close relationship with Him; what need did they have of kings? But the people insisted that they had to have a king; all the other nations around them were ruled by kings, and it would be easier for them to relate to those peoples if they had a similar structure of government. So God relented and established Saul as king, with one major caveat: Saul - and the people - had to be obedient to God.
Dear reader, they were not. They started out doing ok, but eventually Saul starts to pick and choose which commands of God he fulfills. He’ll do most of one task, but not all of it. He’ll ignore the difficult things, but do the easy stuff. He only listens to the prophets when he feels like it. Clearly, Saul has to go; and that leads God to send Samuel to anoint David as king. Once God removes his favor from Saul, everything starts to go very wrong for him, but once God’s favor rests on David - and the spirit of the Lord rushes upon him - everything starts to go very right for him. Just ask Goliath.
In the end, David will also fail to be obedient, and things will go poorly for him. And just as it happened to them, it can easily happen to us. The greater lesson of this story, then, is that it’s vitally important to be obedient to the will of God, and to seek His forgiveness when we fail to do so. Lent was made for nothing less.
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Fish Fry - The fish fry continues to be an outstanding success, thanks to your patronage and the hard work of our amazing volunteers. Please continue to support this important parish fundraiser.
Dollar Drive - the Knights of Columbus will be collecting donations at the doors of both churches before and after masses next weekend to benefit the Bishop’s Fund, which supports special needs students in the St. Anthony’s Program and at McGuire home. Please be as generous as possible.
Return - Do you have a loved one that no longer practices their faith? Come hear Father Joe Freedy present some best practices and other tips on how to encourage them to return to the Church on Thursday, March 30.
Life with the Trinity - Fr. Mohler will be presenting a three-night series to help draw us into a closer relationship with the loving God. April 26-28. See the bulletin for more details.
Annunciation - The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord is Saturday, March 25. There will be a special Mass to honor this great mystery at 9 AM in Monroeville.
Seder Meal - Join us for a Mass seder meal on Wednesday of Holy Week.
Oremus pro invicem!
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