OXYGEN

23 Jan
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1 Samuel 1:1-4.11-12.17.19.23-27

David returned from his rout of the Amalekites and spent two days in Ziklag. On the third day a man came from the camp where Saul had, his garments torn and earth on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and did homage. ‘Where do you come from?’ David asked him. ‘I have escaped from the Israelite camp,’ he said. David said to him, ‘What happened? Tell me.’ He replied, ‘The people have fled from the battlefield and many of them have fallen. Saul and his Son Jonathan are dead too.’

Then David took hold of his garments and tore them, and all the men did the same. They mourned and wept and fasted until the evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, for the people of the Lord and for the House of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

Then David made this lament over Saul and his son Jonathan:

Alas, the glory of Israel has been slain on your heights!
How did the heroes fall?
Saul and Jonathan, loved and lovely,
neither in life, nor in death, were divided.
Swifter than eagles were they,
stronger were they than lions.
O daughters of Israel, weep for Saul
who clothed you in scarlet and fine linen,
who set brooches of gold
on your garments.
How did the heroes fall
in the thick of the battle?
O Jonathan, in your death I am stricken,
I am desolate for you, Jonathan my brother.
Very dear to me you were,
your love to me more wonderful
than the love of a woman.
How did the heroes fall
and the battle armour fail?
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Mark 3:20-21

Jesus went home, and such a crowd collected that they could not even have a meal. When his relatives heard of this, they set out to take charge of him, convinced that he was out of his mind.
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… they set out to take charge of him, convinced he was out of his mind.

Men and women of God do the weirdest things. In interviews and chats that I’ve had with others, I’ve met a priest who was a former deejay, a nun who described herself as once being a spunky young lady who joined a religious order and drove an ambulance. There was another priest who left behind a successful career as a hotelier to answer God’s call. There are also laypeople that have turned away from careers such as advertising and architecture, all to dedicate their lives to serving God.

What makes such people do something so out of character, so abnormal? And what do the people around them think? In today’s gospel reading, Jesus’ relatives thought He was out of His mind. Jesus was supposed to be a carpenter, and carry on His father’s trade. But Joseph was His earthly father; Jesus was instead carrying on His heavenly Father’s trade.

In the first reading, David too does something unusual. The abridged version of this reading does not give us the full picture. If we read from the Bible, we will find that the man who brought David the news was an Amalekite, and that it was he who killed Saul at the king’s request. The man had come to David bringing what he thought was good news – David’s long-time enemy Saul, and his son Jonathan, was dead. He probably expected to be rewarded.

Instead, this was bad news to David because Saul was God’s anointed and he was dead, killed by the man who stood before him. David had the man struck down. It was doubly bad news for David because his best friend Jonathan was also dead. It can be hard for us to understand, just as it must have been hard for David’s companions to comprehend. Why would David lament for Saul who had tried so hard to kill them? Not only that, he called them ‘heroes’. Was he out of his mind?

This would not be the first, nor the last, time that David, or Jesus, did something so unusual that people around them thought it weird. But they did what was right by God, never mind what people of the world thought about them. So too it is with men and women of God who do what is right by God, never mind what people of the world think about them.

Their actions and life decisions can be odd, even to the point that people who know them think that they out of their minds. But in so doing, they act also as a beacon of light, pointing out the way to God to others who might not know Him.

Today, I invite you to think of just one of these ‘weird’ people in your lives, who have made choices to leave behind everything to serve God and His Church. Take some time to think about their actions and life decisions. Have they made you stop and wonder what is it they see that you don’t? Have they made you wonder about God?

(Today’s OXYGEN by Daniel Tay)
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Prayer: We pray for all who are discerning their life vocations. May they be given the grace to be fully honest with God and with themselves.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to the Lord for those who have left behind everything to serve God and His Church, for they act as witnesses of God and beacons of light for the rest of us.

Upcoming Readings:
Sun, 24 Jan – Nehemiah 8:2-6.8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30 (or 12-14.27); Luke 1:1-4;4:14-21; Third Sunday of Ordinary Time