Memorial of Saint Anthony. Abbot

 Lectionary: 311

But Samuel said: “Does the LORD so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obedience to the command of the LORD? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission than the fat of rams. For a sin like divination is rebellion, and presumption is the crime of idolatry. Because you have rejected the command of the LORD,
he, too, has rejected you as ruler.”

In today's first reading we learn of King Saul's tragic flaw. He would not admit his disobedience. Unlike his protege David, he argued with the rebuke the prophet spoke against him. 

His defense is all to common. He and his warriors were doing what everyone does. They were taking the spoils of their victory against the Philistines. And why not? The enemy was dead and had no further use of their armor, weapons, clothing, valuables, house, land, women, or children. To the victor belongs the spoils. When might makes right, ancient, pagan customs prevail. It's only common sense.

Saul and his warriors would justify their spoiling the enemy by offering a tithe to the Lord. They might have said, "That seems fair enough. We'll give God credit with a sacrifice from our surplus loot! Religious traditions should be observed, after all. The gods should be placated." 

But "the gods" are always projections of our human imagination, and subject to our presumptions, biases, and secret preferences. People might differ about what the gods think, say, or want; but since they don't actually exist, no one will discover the truth of religion. That must be revealed by the God-who-is, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 

People assume that God wants what is good, and they think they know what is good. Good becomes some kind of eternal, preexisting principle before which even God must bow. But that's not the way it works. 

Daily, as I read the Invitatory Psalm 95 to begin the Office of Readings, I hear the Lord's complaint: 

Forty years I endured that generation

I said they are a people whose hearts go astray

and they do not know my ways.

So I swore in my anger,

they shall not enter into my rest." 

Jesus's parable (of the vineyard workers who thought they should get more for working the entire day in the hot sun) reminds us of God's sovereign rule. The owner told one fellow (only!) that he the owner had every right to give as he chose to give. What they expected of him mattered not a whit. 

We've all had to deal with this issue on a more human level during the pandemic. Each has their own opinions about what is good or best, but to effectively beat Covid 19 we must obey the public health experts who have studied the virus, the history of epidemics and quarantines, and effective ways to mitigate the disaster. Those who do their "research" on the Internet are only looking for reassurance of what they already believe 

God sees the future and God knows his plan, as he revealed through the prophet Jeremiah 

"For I know well the plans I have in mind for you... plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope."

When discerning what we should do at any given time, we should eliminate what is evil and then be suspicious of what we want. We should study what we think is good, and then beg the Lord for guidance. 

We never forget that the Holy Spirit led Jesus to Jerusalem and Calvary, and showed us the True Good in the dark mystery of his death and resurrection. Come, Holy Spirit!