Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 02-10-04, Memorial, St. Scholastica, virgin

Reading I
1 Kgs 8:22-23, 27-30

Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD
in the presence of the whole community of Israel,
and stretching forth his hands toward heaven,
he said, "LORD, God of Israel,
there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below;
you keep your covenant of mercy with your servants
who are faithful to you with their whole heart.

"Can it indeed be that God dwells on earth?
If the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you,
how much less this temple which I have built!
Look kindly on the prayer and petition of your servant, O LORD, my God,
and listen to the cry of supplication which I, your servant,
utter before you this day.
May your eyes watch night and day over this temple,
the place where you have decreed you shall be honored;
may you heed the prayer which I, your servant, offer in this place.
Listen to the petitions of your servant and of your people Israel
which they offer in this place.
Listen from your heavenly dwelling and grant pardon."

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 84:3, 4, 5 and 10, 11

R (2) How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
My soul yearns and pines
for the courts of the LORD.
My heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God.
R How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest
in which she puts her young—
Your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my king and my God!
R How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
Blessed they who dwell in your house!
continually they praise you.
O God, behold our shield,
and look upon the face of your anointed.
R How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
I had rather one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I had rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
R How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!

Gospel
Mk 7:1-13

When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem
gathered around Jesus,
they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals
with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.
(For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews,
do not eat without carefully washing their hands,
keeping the tradition of the elders.
And on coming from the marketplace
they do not eat without purifying themselves.
And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed,
the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.)
So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him,
"Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders
but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?"
He responded,
"Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites,
as it is written:

This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
In vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.

You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition."
He went on to say,
"How well you have set aside the commandment of God
in order to uphold your tradition!
For Moses said,
Honor your father and your mother,
and Whoever curses father or mother shall die.
Yet you say,
‘If someone says to father or mother,
"Any support you might have had from me is qorban"'
(meaning, dedicated to God),
you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother.
You nullify the word of God
in favor of your tradition that you have handed on.
And you do many such things."

From: Mark 7:1-13

The Tradition of the Elders

[1] Now when the Pharisees gathered together to Him (Jesus), with some
of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem, [2] they saw that some of
His disciples ate with hands defiled, that is, unwashed. [3] (For the
Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands,
observing the tradition of the elders; [4] and when they come from the
market place, they do not eat unless they purify themselves; and there
are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and
pots and vessels of bronze.) [5] And the Pharisees and the scribes
asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not live according to the tradition
of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?" [6] And He said to them,
"Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, `This
people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; [7]
in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'
[8] You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of
men.

[9] And He said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the
commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition! [10] For Moses
said, "Honor your father and your mother'; and `He who speaks evil of
father or mother, let him surely die'; [11] but you say, `If a man
tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is
Corban' (that is, given to God)--[12] then you no longer permit him to
do anything for his father or mother, [13] thus making void the word of
God through your tradition which you hand on. And many such things you
do."

Commentary:

1-2. Hands were washed not for reasons of hygiene or good manners but
because the custom had religious significance: it was a rite of
purification. In Exodus 30:17ff the Law of God laid down how priests
should wash before offering sacrifice. Jewish tradition had extended
this to all Jews before every meal, in an effort to give meals a
religious significance, which was reflected in the blessings which
marked the start of meals. Ritual purification was a symbol of the
moral purity a person should have when approaching God (Psalm 24:3ff;
51:4 and 9); but the Pharisees had focused on the mere external rite.
Therefore Jesus restores the genuine meaning of these precepts of the
Law, whose purpose is to teach the right way to render homage to God
(cf. John 4:24).

3-5. We can see clearly from this text that very many of those to whom
St. Mark's Gospel was first addressed were Christians who had been
pagans and were unfamiliar with Jewish customs. The Evangelist
explains these customs in some detail, to help them realize the
significance of the events and teachings reported in the Gospel story.

Similarly, Sacred Scripture needs to be preached and taught in a way
which puts it within reach of its hearers. This is why Vatican II
teaches that "it is for the bishops suitable to instruct the faithful
[...] by giving them translations of the sacred texts which are
equipped with necessary and really adequate explanations. Thus the
children of the Church can familiarize themselves safely and profitably
with the Sacred Scriptures, and become steeped in their spirit" ("Dei
Verbum", 25).

11-13. For an explanation of this text cf. note on Mt. 15:5-6. Jesus
Christ, who is the authentic interpreter of the Law, because as God He
is its author, explains the scope of the fourth commandment and points
out the mistakes made by the Jewish casuistry. There were many other
occasions when He corrected mistaken interpretations offered by the
Jewish teachers: for example, when He recalls that phrase of the Old
Testament, "Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy, and not
sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6, 1 Samuel 15:22; Sirach 35:4) in Matthew 9:13.

[The note on Matthew 15:5-6 states:

5-6. Over the years teachers of the Law (scribes) and priests of the
temple had distorted the true meaning of the fourth commandment. In
Jesus' time, they were saying that people who contributed to the temple
in cash or in kind were absolved from supporting their parents: it
would be sacrilegious for parents to lay claim to this "corban"
(offerings for the altar). People educated in this kind of thinking
felt that they were keeping the fourth commandment--in fact, fulfilling
it in the best way possible--and they were praised for their piety by
the religious leaders of the nation. But what in fact it meant was
that, under the cloak of piety, they were leaving elderly parents to
fend for themselves. Jesus, who is Messiah and God, is the one who can
correctly interpret the Law. Here He explains the proper scope of the
fourth commandment, exposing the error of Jewish practice at the time.

For Christians, therefore, the fourth commandment includes affectionate
help of parents if they are old or needy, even if one has other family,
social or religious obligations to attend to. Children should check
regularly on whether they are looking after their parents properly.]

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

On days I've had the time to actually switch out the New American with the Douay Rheims, I'll post them in ... there are some interesting comparison/contrasts to make at times, we've noticed.

READING I
1 Kgs 8:22-23, 27-30

And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the sight of the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven,

And said: Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on the earth beneath: who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants, that have walked before thee with all their heart:

[24-26: Who hast kept with thy servant David, my father, what thou hast promised him: with thy mouth thou didst speak, and with thy hands thou hast performed, as this day proveth. Now, therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David, my father, what thou hast spoken to him, saying: There shall not be taken away of thee a man in my sight, to sit on the throne of Israel: yet so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked in my sight. And now, Lord God of Israel, let thy words be established, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David, my father.]

Is it then to be thought that God should indeed dwell upon earth? for if heaven, and the heavens of heavens, cannot contain thee, how much less this house which I have built?

But have regard to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplications, O Lord, my God: hear the hymn and the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee this day:

That thy eyes may be open upon this house, night and day: upon the house of which thou hast said: My name shall be there: that thou mayst hearken to the prayer which thy servant prayeth, in this place to thee:

That thou mayst hearken to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, whatsoever they shall pray for in this place, and hear them in the place of thy dwelling in heaven; and when thou hearest, shew them mercy.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Ps 84:3, 4, 5 and 10, 11

How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!

My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God.
How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!

For the sparrow hath found herself a house,
and the turtle a nest for herself where she may lay her young ones:
Thy altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God. How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!

Blessed are they that dwell in thy house,
O Lord: they shall praise thee for ever and ever.
Behold, O God our protector: and look on the face of thy Christ. How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!

For better is one day in thy courts above thousands.
I have chosen to be an abject in the house of my God,
rather than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners. How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!

GOSPEL
Mk 7:1-13

And there assembled together unto him the Pharisees and some of the scribes, coming from Jerusalem. And when they had seen some of his disciples eat bread with common, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.

For the Pharisees and all the Jews eat not without often washing their hands, holding the tradition of the ancients. And when they come from the market, unless they be washed, they eat not: and many other things there are that have been delivered to them to observe, the washings of cups and of pots and of brazen vessels and of beds.

And the Pharisees and scribes asked him: Why do not thy disciples walk according to the tradition of the ancients, but they eat bread with common hands?

But he answering, said to them: Well did Isaias prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines and precepts of men. For leaving the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, the washing of pots and of cups: and many other things you do like to these.

And he said to them: Well do you make void the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition.

For Moses said: Honour thy father and thy mother. And He that shall curse father or mother, dying let him die. But you say: If a man shall say to his father or mother, Corban (which is a gift) whatsoever is from me shall profit thee. And further you suffer him not to do any thing for his father or mother,

Making void the word of God by your own tradition, which you have given forth. And many other such like things you do.

Further to the question of Tradition, I was wondering why the Jewish dietary laws were not a part of our inheritance of certain Jewish traditions?
Interesting question. First of all, the key experience of the apostles and the central belief of the Church is that Jesus physically rose from the dead, body and soul. This is the primary element in all the creedal formulas of the early Church, not just as an element of faith, but as an historical act. It was confirmed for the early Church in the descent of the Spirit on Pentecost. This is what sets the early Church apart from the Jews and distinguishes it from only being a Jewish sect.

Second was the belief that Jesus was not just a man, but that He was the Messiah of the Jews. The proof, somewhat cyclical, is that He is raised from the dead; that is, because of his resurrection, Jesus can be called the Christ, the Anointed One. There are many theological titles for Jesus in the New Testament that prove that they thought (a) He was the Messiah, and (b) God, chief among which is Kyrie (Lord), the master of the universe, the creator of everything, the one at God's right hand. Calling Christ "Lord" was an early Christological notion that raised all sorts of red flags because the title "Lord" was understood to be a reference to Jesus as God. And because he is the Lord and Creator, he's also the one that holds the key to life and death.

Those are the basic notions in the New Testament and early writings of who Jesus is. He's resurrected from the dead. He is God. He is Lord and Creator. Sins are forgiven through Him because he is the anointed one and the Savior of all mankind. They're not explained because they don't have to be explained; everyone understood what they meant.

The entire religious life of the nascent Christian community is dependent upon these basic, and universal, beliefs. For the first generation, until the destruction of the Temple, the apostles and first generation of Christians continued to worship in the Temple. An awareness developed of the uniqueness of Christianity, of what Christ means, what it means that God became man, and also the real, unique realization of the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist itself. Still, the early Christians continued to combine their Jewish practices alongside with the newer Christian practices.

At the Council of Jerusalem, we see the mission of the Church expanded and the Mosaic Law is no longer binding on everybody. All of the rituals, fasts, dietary obligations are gone. The Ten Commandments are held, but the smaller laws no longer needed to be practiced. One of the first things to go was the dietary restrictions.

Some of the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church stem basically from then-extant Jewish rituals but with somewhat different meaning and entirely different effect. Let's look first at the sacrament of Baptism. Baptism already existed but was only a ritual cleansing preparing one for repentance. Christ's baptism transformed it and gave life in the Spirit, although the ritual is still the same. Baptism becomes central to the life of the Christian by incorporating individuals not merely into a sect but into the actual person and life of the resurrected Christ, the Lord Himself. You're uniting yourself to a person -- not to a movement, idea or institution, but to a person who also happens to be divine, and the Creator, Savior, etc. Baptism is understood as becoming a member of Christ's living member, which is the Church.

The second extremely important sign is going to be what is called the breaking of the bread, the Eucharist. It was not simply a ritual meal, like the blessing of the sabbath candles and the breaking of bread for the Jews. That's where it comes from, along with the Passover meal, but Christ has transformed it, not only with more meaning but with an entirely different reality. It's no longer just bread as symbol, it's Christ's body and blood that transforms individuals into Him. It's a personal communication between the Deity and the individual. We become deified, slowly being remade into sharing of His life by these very visible signs.

As for feast days and days of fasting, etc., these chosen in opposition to the Jewish feast days and fast days. Sunday became the day of worship for the Christians as opposed to the Sabbath of the Jews because the resurrection took place on the first day of the week, Sunday. The Sabbath was jettisoned in the first century. Wednesday and Fridays were days of fast and abstinence, Wednesday as the day Christ was handed over by Judas and Friday as the day Christ died, whereas Jews fasted on Monday and Thursday. The Christians were making themselves very distinct. In short, a liturgical life developed in the early Church in which each day of the week took its meaning because it was linked with a person, Jesus -- not an idea or an action -- and His saving work within the Church.

Tuesday February 10, 2004 Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading (1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30) Gospel (St. Mark 7:1-13)

In the Gospel reading today, Our Lord chastises the Pharisees for disregarding God’s commandments and clinging to mere human tradition. This is something that any one of us can certainly fall into. We know what the commandments of God say, we know what the Church teaches, and yet sometimes (because we maybe do not like what it is that God wants us to do) we tend to do other things; and we make other things almost as if they are something that is divine. In the way that we follow certain traditions that are handed on in our own families or in certain areas, what winds up happening is we follow those very carefully, very closely, and yet the very things that God asks us to do in Scripture, well, we tend to disregard those. The things that the Church teaches, if we do not agree with them, we tend to ignore them; yet we scrupulously follow these other things that have no basis in anything.

It is not that the other things in and of themselves are bad or wrong, some of them may even be very good. For instance, if you look at the example from the Gospel today, it is about washing one’s hands before eating. I do not suspect there is a single parent here today who has ever suggested to their kids that they should not wash their hands before dinner. It is a very reasonable and prudent thing to do. However, when we put it on the scale of the things that are asked of us by God, it is nothing. So while it is good and reasonable, we tend to follow things like that even today rather scrupulously, at least with regard to small children. If you go into any restaurant, there are signs plastered all over the wall for any of the employees about the necessity of washing their hands and how important all these things are. Again, it is very reasonable, but it is not the Word of God.

And so, when the Lord tells us what we are supposed to do, we cling to all of these other things. For us, to wash our hands is not really considered a religious thing; it is just a prudent thing. But there are lots of things that people fall into, little traditions that are quasi-religious that get passed on in families, and those sorts of things we follow with amazing scrupulosity. But the things of God we disregard without thinking twice about them. The commandments that Our Lord gives to us are not easy ones for us to deal with, and because they are rather black and white, we tend to think, “Well, because they’re extreme I can’t ever do them anyway; so therefore, I don’t have to.” Love your enemies; pray for your persecutors; love one another as I have loved you. These are not necessarily easy things. Take up your cross daily and follow Me. We do not really like that idea. We want ease and comfort, so we disregard God’s commandments for something that we have decided is more important or is better somehow than what God would want.

But when we look at the first reading and what Solomon says in his prayer, he says, “You hear the prayers of those who follow your law, of those who are faithful.” Well, we can come to daily Mass and we can have our prayer time set aside, but if we are not trying to get our lives in order – that is, to get our lives in such a way that they conform to the teachings and the life of Jesus Christ, –what good is it all? The whole goal of our lives is to become another Christ, to grow into such holiness that it is the Lord Who is living in us and through us. We disregard His commandments, yet we can stand before Him and say, “But, Lord, I went to daily Mass! I prayed everyday; I prayed my Rosary and I had time set aside for prayer!” He says, “But you disregarded My commandments. I never commanded that you had to go to Mass everyday, but I did command that you have to love your enemies and pray for your persecutors. I did command that you have to love one another. I did command that you have to become perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” And we will say, “But those are extreme. That’s not humanly possible. The psychologists said that can’t be done, so therefore it’s not possible for that to be done.” He will say, “I am God, and I commanded you to do these things.” Obviously, they can be done or He would not have commanded it.

How easily we set aside the commandments of God and we pick and choose what we would prefer to do: things that will make us feel good, things that can ease our conscience so we can say, “Well, we’re at least giving God lip service.” But where are our hearts? That is what Jesus is looking at. He is not going to look just at the external actions; He is going to look at what is in the heart. If we are truly seeking His Will, if we are truly seeking to be conformed to Jesus Christ, then the Day of Judgment will be a very good one. If we are just going through external motions with our hearts not in it at all, without really trying to be transformed in the way that we live and in who we are, the Day of Judgment will not be a good one – even if we can say, “I went to daily Mass everyday for years and years and years.” He will look at us and say, “What good did it do you if you never let it in?” If we received Him every single day and never opened our heart to receive Him, what will that say about us?

So we need to be very careful about listening to what Our Lord is telling us, and we need to be faithful to what He has asked us, what He has commanded us, to make sure that we do not set aside the commandments of God for mere human tradition, for the things that we thought sounded better, for the things that we liked better, for the things that we thought were humanly possible where we thought the things He commanded us were not. These are the things we today need to be very, very careful of. We need to be faithful to Him so that we do not give Him mere lip service, but rather that we love Him with our whole heart and soul and strength as He Himself commanded, and that we love our neighbor as ourselves.

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why the Jewish dietary laws were not a part of our inheritance

Think of Law in concrete terms - literally. Think of the wall going up at present between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Among other things, this wall both monumentalises and manifests a profound alienation between two profoundly law-ridden peoples who lack a theology of forgiveness. It's a tragic expression of their inadequate anthropology, which accepts law and constraint, rather than freedom and communion, as human destiny. To accept this is ultimately to accept death itself as the solution to our problems, rather than see it as the problem itself. A culture of Law and Wall is a Culture of Death. For them, law and walls -- what should be no more than coping mechanisms for fallen men yearning for reconciliation -- have calcified into a concrete expression of their rejection of the concept of communion - the state of being that transcends both walls and law.

Here are some notes from our Theology of the Body discussion, dealing with the Fall of Man, which illustrate the Christian need to transcend Law:

I . An Adequate Anthropology -- Who Are We?
A. Original Man
2 Original Unity:
b. "Naked without shame". Is God moral? Is there law governing the relationship of the three divine persons of the Trinity, or do they live in a perfect communion of self-gift? As a worthy icon of the Trinity, A&E required no external ethic or morality for the same reason that the Trinity does not. Man's primordial state of grace is not so much a moral quantity or an achievement as a state of being. A&E have no secrets, no wish to withhold a part of themselves from each other. This is a perfect communion of love and of trust, an acknowledgment that neither can deny the other without denying his own self. This is the complete and unreserved gift of self that constitutes the nuptial union as created by God in the beginning. Marriage existed before law because God was a revealer before he was a lawgiver.

B Historical Man
4. God seeking man: Where are you?
c. Absurdity of self-sufficiency.
i. Adam "plays God", judging the Divine Father as responsible for his own fall. "Bad God!!" The woman you gave me did this -- iow, your gift is not my fulfillment, but the problem. Therefore I (Adam) no longer trust you. The rift of mistrust between God and man that Paul calls sin, which can short of atonement only be negotiated by Law -- as between you and a neighbor you fear and mistrust.

6 Enduring Consequences for Man in Estrangement, Concupiscence

f. No longer gift to each other, our relationships are no longer informed by love, but controlled by law. God creates the people of Israel and gives them the Law to as steps in salvation history, but the very existence of law is witness to man's fallen nature. So long as man is merely lawful, he cannot share the Trinitarian life, since law has no place in perfect communion.

g. Israelite emphasis on purity is prophetic: a ritual and ethical teaching with theological implications. A sin against purity is not merely an offense against an arbitrary culturally conditioned ethical requirement. Purity has enduring, transcending significance of absolute integrity. Of integrity and unity, in which a thing is wholly one substance, and of communion, in which all parts belong to each other with no alien admixtures. The Israelite purity that finds its highest expression in the BVM -- is a preparation for the Messiah born of a sinless virgin without intervention by man, reminiscent of the Son begotten by the Father. Law is a coping mechanism but has no salvific power. If you could get salvation through "works" - through Law alone, or through morality, the Jews would never have needed a Savior.

The Word Among Us

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

Meditation
Mark 7:1-13

“You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?” This expression is often used to confront someone who has made boastful statements about their accomplish-ments—especially if their claims have not been backed up by any proof. If this scene between Jesus and the Pharisees were to be played out today, Jesus may well have made a similar comment to them. The Pharisees he was confronting knew all the rules and regulations of being good Jews, but they weren’t very good at walking through the day in a way that pleased the Lord. They were so concerned about keeping cups and bowls clean that they lost track of God’s deeper desire that they keep their hearts clean as well.

One example Jesus used in making this distinction was the way some Jews used a technicality in the law to avoid caring for their parents. How often do we fall into a similar trap? Perhaps we have made judgments against our parents in our hearts and minds because certain habits they have bother us. Maybe these judgments have caused us to withhold the love and respect that our parents are due. In its purest form, love overlooks weaknesses and makes our homes places where the Spirit of Christ dwells and everyone is lifted up to live a better way.

Today, make the choice that you will back up your faith by the way you live. Do you say you love Jesus? Then make sure you’re spending quality time in prayer giving him the praise and honor he deserves. Do you call yourself a Christian businessperson? Then make sure to treat all your coworkers with respect and dignity. Do you love your family? Then think of a specific way you can show them your love today—especially if you have been at odds with someone recently. Don’t let yourself become like these Pharisees, who honored Jesus with their lips while their hearts were far from him! Let’s all walk the walk just as much as we talk the talk!

“Jesus, I want to walk the walk of faith today. I want to back up my beliefs by the things I say, think, and do. Help me to honor my parents and all my family today. For by this people will know that I am your disciple—by my love.”

One Bread, One Body

All Issues > Volume 20, Number 2

<< Tuesday, February 10, 2004 >>

St. Scholastica

1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30

Psalm 84

Mark 7:1-13

View Readings

THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR LOVE FOR GOD

“Empty is the reverence they do Me.” —Mark 7:7

The Lord made Solomon the wisest man in the world (1 Kgs 3:12). Solomon used his wisdom to build the temple of the Lord. Solomon was awed by God’s work in his life (see 1 Kgs 8:27). Sadly, Solomon’s heart did not remain with the Lord (1 Kgs 11:9). He died trapped in idolatrous abominations, alienated from the Lord.

David, Solomon’s father, also received exceptional graces from the Lord. His heart was with the Lord. To express his love for the Lord, David composed and sang many of the psalms. However, David committed adultery and murder (2 Sm 11:1ff). Obviously, despite David’s devotion to the Lord, he had something very wrong in his relationship with the Lord. Yet David did repent and died in the Lord’s love.

The lives of Solomon and David show that we can deceive ourselves about the quality and depth of our relationship with the Lord. While we honor the Lord externally, our hearts may be far from Him (Mk 7:6). We need the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, to guide us to all truth about the authenticity and purity of our relationships with the Lord (see Jn 16:13). We need the Holy Spirit to prove us wrong about any compromises we have made with the ways of the world (Jn 16:8). Come, Holy Spirit of truth and love!

Prayer: Father, may I never be unfaithful to You.

Promise: “You keep Your covenant of kindness with Your servants who are faithful to You with their whole heart.” —1 Kgs 8:23

Praise: St. Scholastica founded a religious community five miles from her brother Benedict’s monastery.

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