Wednesday, Week 2 of Ordinary Time

Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!

In the ancient world, slingers were the lightest of the light infantry. They were the poor men who wore no armor but approached the battle behind heavily-armored spearmen and lightly-armored archers. Their only weapon was a sling, a simple contraption of leather used to hurl rocks over the front lines, harassing the enemy. If the front line broke, the naked slingers fled like field mice before the enemy charge. But skilled slingers could do serious damage, softening the enemy forces and making them more vulnerable to heavier weapons.

The boy David was a slinger fighting for the Hebrew army. He had honed his skills while shepherding. A stone hurled to the right of his flock directed them to move left; to the left, they moved right. A well placed pebble might even discourage a wolf, lion or thief. But what could a sling do against a heavily armored, battle-tested champion like Goliath? The Philistine sneered at the boy, and mocked the entire army of frightened Hebrews who could not field a better opponent.

He never saw it coming, the rock that embedded itself in his forehead. Nor did the enemies of Jesus expect the devastating word: “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil?” They did not realize their grumbling was an evil work which is forbidden on the Sabbath as well as every day of the week. The Son of David struck them with a word that was hurled with the precision and force of David's pebble.

The word of God doesn’t always smash through our defenses like an Abrams tank or a MIRV missile. Sometimes it is a coworker’s silent withdrawal or a child’s complaint, “But you said…” Like Jesus opponents, we might not see it coming; we might not even realize the word has judged and condemned us.

But as we honor the word of God each day, welcoming both its challenge and its consolation, letting it direct our attitudes and actions, we find ourselves guided like a flock of sheep into the green pastures of salvation.