Bless All Who Would Not Harm the Lord's Anointed!

 

The first reading in church this week, 1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23

offers a wonderful message of God's mercy and David understood this message very well. Very beautiful! I think it is a wonderful message for all of us in these times of uncertainty and imminent war, bless all who would not harm God's anointed!  May we all be blessed from God as we are all anointed!

 

1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
In those days, Saul went down to the desert of Ziph
with three thousand picked men of Israel,
to search for David in the desert of Ziph.
So David and Abishai went among Saul’s soldiers by night
and found Saul lying asleep within the barricade,
with his spear thrust into the ground at his head
and Abner and his men sleeping around him.
Abishai whispered to David:
“God has delivered your enemy into your grasp this day.
Let me nail him to the ground with one thrust of the spear;
I will not need a second thrust!”
But David said to Abishai, “Do not harm him,
for who can lay hands on the LORD’s anointed and remain unpunished?”
So David took the spear and the water jug from their place at Saul’s head,
and they got away without anyone’s seeing or knowing or awakening.
All remained asleep,
because the LORD had put them into a deep slumber.
Going across to an opposite slope,
David stood on a remote hilltop
at a great distance from Abner, son of Ner, and the troops.
He said: “Here is the king’s spear.
Let an attendant come over to get it.
The LORD will reward each man for his justice and faithfulness.
Today, though the LORD delivered you into my grasp,
I would not harm the LORD’s anointed.”

In the Responsorial Psalm

Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13

R (8a) The Lord is kind and merciful.

He pardons all your iniquities,

            heals all your ills.

He redeems your life from destruction,

            crowns you with kindness and compassion.

In the Gospel of Luke 6:27-38 it is all about love! God's love, love for others, a blessing for others. Love shows up in the Bible a lot! It is not the love of sex, intimacy, affection so much as it is the love of good will toward others, your fellow man like God loves us, we need to be more like Jesus said almost daily, love your brothers and sisters like yourself, wish them well, bless them, be kind to them, never speak ill of them or wish them badly, never, we need to love all, forgive all, and bless all, this is showing God's love to others.  Jesus said, "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well..." This is so important today, so many may hate you or talk bad about you, or even mistreat you maybe at work or out in society, love them and forgive them anyway, wish them well, even if they curse you or mistreat you or speak ill of you. love them and bless them, wish them well just the same, that is all we can do! That is the love Jesus and God talks about when they say love your neighbor as yourself. The priest yesterday when I received communion, I said Amen and he told me God love you! I said thank you, I thought this was very nice. He may know something about me, but it was nice that he reaffirmed God's love to me as a Catholic priest. How special!  It feels so good to know that our God is so kind and merciful! We are so so blessed to have God in our lives! 

Gospel of Luke 6:27-38

Jesus said to his disciples:

“To you who hear I say,

love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

To the person who strikes you on one cheek,

offer the other one as well,

and from the person who takes your cloak,

do not withhold even your tunic.

Give to everyone who asks of you,

and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.

Do to others as you would have them do to you.

For if you love those who love you,

what credit is that to you?

Even sinners love those who love them.

And if you do good to those who do good to you,

what credit is that to you?

Even sinners do the same.

If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment,

what credit is that to you?

Even sinners lend to sinners,

and get back the same amount.

But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,

and lend expecting nothing back;

then your reward will be great

and you will be children of the Most High,

for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

“Stop judging and you will not be judged.

Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.

Forgive and you will be forgiven.

Give, and gifts will be given to you;

a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,

will be poured into your lap.

For the measure with which you measure

will in return be measured out to you.”

I loved the music and songs at church this week! Feeling so blessed!