Friday, Week 2 Ordinary time

Looking at David as a type of Jesus, we compare the men who followed both: 

In the 22nd chapter of 1 Samuel, we learn that David "... was joined by all those who were in difficulties or in debt, or who were embittered; and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him." David's followers were not high-minded idealists. In this description, they sound more like cut-purses and cut-throats. But he led well and they were loyal to him. If you go into battle in the ancient world you should follow a winner. 

Hollywood, of course, rewrites the script, giving ancient warriors emotive-if-ambiguous principles like freedom, liberty and equality. Interestingly, some historians say wars are far more vicious since soldiers stopped fighting for God, king, and pelf and started fighting for ill-defined ideals. Today’s ideological wars make the 16^th century religious wars look like church picnics.

In today's gospels we learn the names of Jesus' apostles. In most cases we know little more than their names; but they appear more civilized than David's mercenaries. However, few had romantic illusions or glorious notions about their mission. We don't hear them singing To dream the Impossible Dream…. They did not dedicate their lives to a better world, the eradication of poverty or the end of despotism.

As they announced that astonishing word, the Roman Empire did not collapse, slavery did not end, and poverty remained entrenched. Long before Karl Marx invented class warfare, the roman society remained stratified.

Life didn't get easier for these early missionaries. In some ways it became more difficult as Jerusalem was sacked in 70 A.D. and both gentile and Jewish religions became more hostile to Christians. 

But Jesus' disciples, both men and women, kept the faith, hoped in a future they could not see, and loved the Lord. Though dead he was raised and his Spirit led them with more persevering confidence than even his great ancestor David. Theirs was a simple fidelity, hard to emulate but not so difficult to explain. 

On this 22nd day of January, pray that all Americans and all nations will practice a deep reverence for life, especially with its beautiful cycles.
The sin of abortion has deep roots in our society and cannot be easily eradicated. One of its roots, consumerism, wants what it wants when it wants it, regardless of the season. The consumer believes he should be able to buy whatever he wants so long as he has the money -- food, alcohol, entertainment, drugs, guns, sex, abortion, or pleasure. So long as America is governed by consumerism, abortion on demand will remain. 


Life is cyclic and reverence for life honors its cycles. There is, as Ecclesiastes tells us, a time for every thing including plenty and scarcity, hunger and satiety, birth and death, embracing and refraining from embracing. 


Abortion is an ugly thing. No one wants it, but those who do not know God, cannot imagine life without it. They believe it is necessary, as the glutton wants food, the drunk wants alcohol, and the shopper wants a sale. Faith teaches us to rely on God during those difficult times when we cannot imagine how we'll survive.