Celebración de la palabra

Tuesday January 21

Tuesday of 2nd Week of Ordinary Time

LAWS ARE SERVANTS OF PEOPLE

Introduction

God’s ways are not our ways... What is weak attracts his strength. He confounds the mighty by selecting the least and the powerless to do his work. This perennial inversion of values is found in the vocation and election stories of the Old Testament, like David’s in today’s first reading, and will be deepened and presented as fundamental in the New Testament. Is not, after all, the scandal of the cross the deepest expression of this?
The function of laws is to order relationships within the community so as to safeguard the rights of God and of the people around us, and to make us aware of our social responsibilities. Yet, experience tells us that it is a perpetual human temptation to turn laws into absolutes, to make people servants of the law rather than the law a servant of people. Jesus reminds us of the priority of people and the human community over the letter of the law.

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
it is easier for us to seek safety
in observing laws and customs
than to be personally responsible
for the people around us
and to serve you with the freedom of love.
Give us a bit of your own fantasy,
send us the Holy Spirit to fill us
with your own inventive and creative love,
that we may ever seek new ways
to reach out to you and to one another.
Grant this through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Reading 1: 1 Sm 16:1-13

The LORD said to Samuel:
"How long will you grieve for Saul,
whom I have rejected as king of Israel?
Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way.
I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem,
for I have chosen my king from among his sons."
But Samuel replied:
"How can I go?
Saul will hear of it and kill me."
To this the LORD answered:
"Take a heifer along and say,
'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.'
Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I myself will tell you what to do;
you are to anoint for me the one I point out to you."

Samuel did as the LORD had commanded him.
When he entered Bethlehem,
the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and inquired,
"Is your visit peaceful, O seer?"
He replied:
"Yes! I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.
So cleanse yourselves and join me today for the banquet."
He also had Jesse and his sons cleanse themselves
and invited them to the sacrifice.
As they came, he looked at Eliab and thought,
"Surely the LORD's anointed is here before him."
But the LORD said to Samuel:
"Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature,
because I have rejected him.
Not as man sees does God see,
because he sees the appearance
but the LORD looks into the heart."
Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him before Samuel,
who said, "The LORD has not chosen him."
Next Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said,
"The LORD has not chosen this one either."
In the same way Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel,
but Samuel said to Jesse,
"The LORD has not chosen any one of these."
Then Samuel asked Jesse,
"Are these all the sons you have?"
Jesse replied,
"There is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep."
Samuel said to Jesse,
"Send for him;
we will not begin the sacrificial banquet until he arrives here."
Jesse sent and had the young man brought to them.
He was ruddy, a youth handsome to behold
and making a splendid appearance.
The LORD said,
"There–anoint him, for this is he!"
Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand,
anointed him in the midst of his brothers;
and from that day on, the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David.
When Samuel took his leave, he went to Ramah.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 89:20, 21-22, 27-28

R. (21a) I have found David, my servant.
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. I have found David, my servant.
"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. I have found David, my servant.
"He shall say of me, 'You are my father,
my God, the Rock, my savior.'
And I will make him the first-born,
highest of the kings of the earth."
R. I have found David, my servant.

Alleluia See Eph 1:17-18

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our hearts,
that we may know what is the hope
that belongs to our call.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mk 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."

Commentary

The selection of David to be king took an unusual tack. Son of Jesse he was, but the last in line. A young sheep herder, he was un-tempered by experience, perhaps the least prepared of all his brothers. The standards of his selection were not human, but those of a God who makes greatness out of nothing. Saul had long since out served his usefulness and was rejected as king. It is the tribe of Judah that will now be the standard bearer.
It is undeniable that on more than one occasion, David proved to be a disappointment. The candor of the Book of Samuel in recounting his misdeeds is refreshing. There is no attempt to gild the lily. But even with his human failings, David was a faithful Yahwist. He did not compromise God’s sovereignty by introducing pagan cult. When he sinned, he asked for forgiveness with deep expressions of sorrow. When his son Absalom revolted against him, Absalom was killed—even if it caused the king no small amount of anguish. He wanted to see the temple built in Jerusalem, a task that was left to his son Solomon.
Many of us today have mixed feelings about the political arena. We have strong feelings about the presence of corruption and dishonesty. It was not much different in the time of the Jewish monarchy. The greater number of the kings proved to be disappointments. Yet they are still present in the genealogies as Jesus’ ancestors. God went beyond human expectations. Once again God wrote straight with crooked lines.

Points to Ponder

The selection of David
David’s character
Importance of political integrity

Intercessions

– That Christians may regard the commandments as doors to freedom from sin and evil and as ways to serve God and people, we pray:
– That lawmakers everywhere make laws that are humane and serve the good of all, we pray:
– That Sunday may be for us a special occasion to grow in love of those who are dear to us, to visit the sick and to serve the needy, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

God our Father,
you let the sun shine and the rain fall
over the fields sowed by the farmer
to satisfy his hunger with bread and rice.
Alleviate our hunger
for goodness and love and things that last
with the bread of eternal life,
Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord,
who lives with you and with us,
now and for ever.

Prayer after Communion

God our Father,
we turn our laws and even yours
into absolutes by which we imprison
ourselves and others.
And then, you give us yourself in your Son
to remind us that what counts is
how we live for you and for one another
and share ourselves with each other.
Let this Eucharist fill us
with the mentality of your Son,
that we may be present to one another
with a liberating love.
For you have set us free from all servitude
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Blessing

Laws are made for people, not people for laws. This applies also to God’s laws. They are guidelines, helps for people, not instruments of oppression. May Almighty God bless you and help you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.