The Israelites are the chosen people of God and the descendants of Abraham, Jacob and Moses. They have been given a blessing that holds for a thousand generations and stood the test of time. They should have won the battle like all victorious stories go. But not even the presence of the Ark of the Covenant in the hands of the Israelites was enough to gain them victory over the Philistines. Why is this so? If we are to go deeper into the story in today’s 1st reading we would find that Eli’s sons were unfaithful to God — they were not living according to the Law of Moses and thus God was not with them in battle. The ark of the covenant houses the stone tablets, the 10 commandments. What we learn from this defeat is the importance of living the life we are committed to. Magic charms or talismen, even something as great as the Ark, is not going to be of any help to us if we are not willing to be faithful to our calling. Amen. Hallelujah!
1 Samuel 4:1-11
1 The Philistines gathered for an attack on Israel. Israel went out to engage them in battle and camped at Ebenezer, while the Philistines camped at Aphek. 2 The Philistines then drew up in battle formation against Israel. After a fierce struggle Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who slew about four thousand men on the battlefield. 3 When the troops retired to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord permitted us to be defeated today by the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the Lord from Shiloh that it may go into battle among us and save us from the grasp of our enemies.” 4 So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the Lord of hosts, who is enthroned upon the cherubim. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were with the ark of God. 5 When the ark of the Lord arrived in the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth resounded…The Philistines fought and Israel was defeated; every man fled to his own tent. It was a disastrous defeat, in which Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were among the dead.
There are times when the Lord expects us to continue trusting His goodness amidst all the trials for He will redeem us. We all have sinned and fallen short of His glory but today's responsorial psalm tells us exactly how we are saved, not by our own merits but by God's mercy and grace. Amen. Hallelujah!
P S A L M
Psalm 44:10-11, 14-15, 25-26
R: Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
9 [10] Yet now you have cast us off and put us in disgrace, and you go not forth with our armies. 10 [11] You have let us be driven back by our foes; those who hated us plundered us at will. (R) 13 [14] You made us the reproach of our neighbors, the mockery and the scorn of those around us. 14 [15] You made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples. (R) 24 [25] Why do you hide your face, forgetting our woe and our oppression? 25 [26] For our souls are bowed down to the dust, our bodies are pressed to the earth.
Sometimes we come to a point when we just have to keep silent and not say anything at all as suggested in the gospel. And as we trust in His goodness all we have to do is obey and do what is being asked by the Lord. It is mind boggling that Jesus warned the leper after being healed to tell no one anything. This was because Jesus did not want the people to misunderstand things surrounding His being the Messiah. They did not want them to look up to Him as a political leader that will free them from oppression from the Roman rule at that time. His main reason for coming is to free us from sin which is the root cause of all suffering and death. We can be sure that we can trust God’s judgment on this more than anything and anyone else. But if we are to look at the “keeping our mouths shut” aspect from a different angle then we would find that it works. We know for a fact that some things are better left unsaid. Or no matter what we say the words we speak of just fall on deaf ears. Sometimes or most of the time silence could convey a better message than saying anything at all. In whoever or, whatever situation is involved at any time it is always for the best to follow what God tells us to do and take His word for it than follow our own. If we feel that we have been very preoccupied with a lot of worldly things that we are starting to neglect and care for our spiritual concerns, then it's time to stop and look at ourselves very closely. We may not notice it and even before we know it we may have developed a leper soul. Leprosy is something that creeps into you unknowingly because it damages the nerves and leaves you numb and insensitive and will catch us by surprise when suddenly a part of us becomes damaged, beyond repair and will just fall off. All we have to rely and depend on is God's will to happen in our lives and nothing else matters. For nothing is impossible with a Great and Big God. Our imperfections will be made perfect our impurities cleansed if we only know where to really go. Before it's too late we better go to Jesus right away. Amen. Hallelujah!
Mark 1:40-45
40 A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” 42 The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. 44 Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.” 45 The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
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