Big Sugar Buddha: A Homily – The Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Sunday, February 23, 2025

A Homily – The Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

First Reading – 1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 11-13, 22-23 ©

Responsorial Psalm – 102(103):1-4, 8, 10, 12-13 ©

Second Reading - 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Acts 16:14

Alternative Acclamation – John 13:34

The Gospel According to Luke 6:27-38 ©

(NJB)

Listen!

Today’s reading from Samuel is meant to tell us something about the piety of David. It makes a big-to-do out of the fact that David would not take the life of his king, even though the king was seeking his.

Do not be confused, this is not an act of love.

There are many things happening in this text and many errors to correct, the first of which is to make sure that the reader does not confuse David’s lawfulness, his refusal to take the life of God’s “anointed” king, for the command that Jesus gives in the gospel reading that comes later: that we love our enemies.

David did not spare Saul out of love but from a sense of propriety and duty. He may have also been motivated by superstition, he was certainly motivated by a desire to uphold the law with rigor, because he himself was expected to become king after Saul, and did not want to establish a precedent of regicide, lest he might find himself at the wrong end of a spear in his later years.

He was wise in this.

David’s piety is laudable, nevertheless, it is not love, it is calculating, shrewd and savvy, but it is not love.

Be mindful!

God does not appoint kings; God has made us free. The creator of the universe does not intervene in human affairs. God does not reward the good or punish the wicked. Such activities are the contrivances of human beings, do not confuse our motivations and actions with those of the divine.

Listen to psalmist:

Give thanks to God; give thanks for the peace of God’s blessing, for the blessing of life, of freedom, of self-determination, and every other aspect of existence that allows us to be the persons as we are.

Give thanks to those who are loving, be thankful for the peacemakers and bless them as you are able. Bless all of God’s children, love them all, both the good and the bad, the helpful and the harmful, the just and the unjust.

Remember this.

God is not a king, nor a kingmaker. God is not a Lord. God does not favor one group over another. God loves all of God’s children equally.

Be wary of the teaching of the apostles, they are often wrong, just as the disciples were often wrong, misunderstanding Jesus and his teaching at every turn…until the end of his days.

In today’s reading from Corinthians the apostle gives us a soliloquy drawn from rank speculation, concerning matters that he knows nothing about. It has been a great tragedy for the Church, and serious misfortune to people everywhere, that the teachings offered here came into the tradition. Beyond expressing faith and hope that the spirit continues beyond the death of the body (which is good), there is nothing else that needs to be said on this subject. We fall into error when we allow our philosophies to frame our understanding of events that are yet to come, but that none of us have seen.

Know this.

God hears you, God is with you, that is why we named him Immanuel. God knows you even as you know yourself, God knows you better.

Forget the apocryphal imagery and the mythological symbolism associated with the “Son of Man.” Set aside the cryptic language that John presents regarding the glory of God when he pretends to know in whom and how it appears. Forget these things because they are irrelevant.

To follow Christ is to walk in the path of love, to love one another, to lead with love.

Therefore, be loving as Jesus was loving. Be caring, be merciful, be just, be humble…this is the way.

Be prepared to risk everything for the sake of love, even your life. In so doing you will be true to Jesus, anyone who is a witness to it will bear witness to that truth. This is the way and there is no other.

Faith (which is the trust we place in God); faith is not about the words which define our articles of belief, faith is not about creeds and decrees and decretals; faith is not ideology, it is not partisan, it is not dogmatic, it is not doctrinaire. Faith is not a legally binding agreement or a contractual obligation, faith is not concerned with secrets or magic words. Faith is an action, to have faith is to trust in the divine love God has for everyone.

Jesus calls us to love, not in the ordinary sense, not in a way that you might expect; Jesus call on us to love radically. He calls on us to love our enemies, even those who persecute us. He calls on us to love them as God loves them, no matter who they are, because like you, your enemies are children of God, they are brothers and sisters of Christ. They are your brothers and sisters. God dwells in them as God dwells in you.

Love them, because enmity is an illusion, it is a disease of the heart; love them and be good to them, because goodness is its own reward. Be kind to one another as a service to God, serve your neighbors, the stranger, even those who have done you harm.

This is the expectation God has placed on us, and you should know that God placed this expectation there knowing all of the ways in which we would fail.

Jesus prayed to God on behalf of those who tortured and murdered him, he prayed that they be forgiven, even as he was dying on the cross.

Strive to be as compassionate as Jesus was, do not let your imagination fail you Do not judge so that you will not be judged, or pardon so that you will be pardoned, or give so that you will receive a reward; the divine love is not transactional.

Pardon because you have been pardoned, set your judgements of others aside, as God has done for you already, give so that you may share your reward.

This is the love Jesus calls us to; this is the way.

First Reading – 1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 11-13, 22-23 ©

Do Not Lift Your Hand Against the Lord's Anointed

Saul set off and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, accompanied by three thousand men chosen from Israel to search for David in the wilderness of Ziph.

In the dark David and Abishai made their way towards the force, where they found Saul lying asleep inside the camp, his spear stuck in the ground beside his head, with Abner and the troops lying round him.

Then Abishai said to David, ‘Today God has put your enemy in your power; so now let me pin him to the ground with his own spear. Just one stroke! I will not need to strike him twice.’ David answered Abishai, ‘Do not kill him, for who can lift his hand against the Lord’s anointed and be without guilt? The Lord forbid that I should raise my hand against the Lord’s anointed! But now take the spear beside his head and the pitcher of water and let us go away.’ David took the spear and the pitcher of water from beside Saul’s head, and they made off. No one saw, no one knew, no one woke up; they were all asleep, for a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen on them.

David crossed to the other side and halted on the top of the mountain a long way off; there was a wide space between them. He called out, ‘Here is the king’s spear. Let one of the soldiers come across and take it. The Lord repays everyone for his uprightness and loyalty. Today the Lord put you in my power, but I would not raise my hand against the Lord’s anointed.’

Responsorial Psalm – 102(103):1-4, 8, 10, 12-13 ©