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Blog postBlessed be God, my salvation!(Responsorial: Psalm 18)Sirach 47:2-11: What is striking about Sirach’s praise of David is that after each accomplishment he lists, he tells us what David was aware of. When he slew Goliath, he “called on the Lord Most High.” He was aware of who “gave strength to his right arm.” In all the battles he won, “he gave thanks to the Holy One.” He “put all his heart into his songs, out of love for his Maker.” He enhanced the singing and music at feasts “causing the Lord’s
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Blog postLord, you are exalted over all!(Responsorial; 1Chronicles 29:10-12)1Kings 2:1-12: On his deathbed David tells his son Solomon to act according to God’s mind heart so that God will keep his promise to extend his family’s reign over Israel forever. The expurgated version read at Mass omits verses 5 to 9, in which David tells his son not to let two people who offended him—Joab and Shimei—die a natural death.God called David “a man after his own heart.” How could he do that when David was also a sav
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Blog postLord, forgive the wrong I have done!(Responsorial: Psalm 32)2Samuel 24: 2-17 bewilders us. Why would God punish David so severely—and send such suffering on his people—just because he took a census?Our bewilderment reveals a deep and serious flaw in the way we were taught morality. David’s sin was that he was gratifying his love of power. Like a miser counting money, he wanted to gloat over how many troops he could put in the field. Even Joab tried to warn him: “Why does my lord the king want t
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Blog postListen, Lord, and answer me!(Responsorial: Psalm 86)2Samuel 18:9 to 19:3: When Joab, the head of David’s army, caught up with David’s rebel son, Absalom, who was helplessly entangled in the branches of a tree, he had no scruples about killing him. By killing his prisoner, Joab won the war. But David did not rejoice.The king was deeply moved.., and wept… “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”…So the victory that day was turned into
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Blog post*St. Blaise (blessing of throats)Lord, rise up and save me!(Responsorial: Psalm 3)2Samuel 15:13 to 16:13: When David was fleeing from the revolt of his son Absalom, he was too depressed even to react against Shimei, who was cursing him. When David returned victorious he felt too good to punish him: “Shall anyone be put to death in Israel this day?” But later, when he was dying, he told his son Solomon to “bring Shimei’s gray head down with blood to Sheol.” 1Three different moods; three different
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Blog postTHE PRESENTATION OF THE LORDAlso: The Purification of Mary and “Candlemas”“The light of revelation to the nations, the glory of your people”Appreciating the Light that purifies, frees and fulfills us.InventoryWhat does the Presentation of Jesus in the temple say to you? Have you meditated on this event frequently while praying over the “fourth joyful mystery” of the Rosary? How often have you read the account of it in the Bible?InputThe Entrance Antiphon (Psalm 48:10-11) assumes that we meditate
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Blog postCreate a clean heart in me, O Lord.(Responsorial: Psalm 51)In 2Samuel 12: 1-17 makes one thing clear to us; we don’t know anyone else’s deepest heart, and often not our own.When Nathan confronted David with his sin, what David revealed was that he despised what he had done. He wasn’t aware he was speaking of himself when he said, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die… because he had no pity.” But when Nathan made him aware, he said, “I have sinned against the LORD.”With t
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Blog postBe merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.(Responsorial: Psalm 51)In 2 Samuel 11: 1-17 David hit bottom. His sin was not only adultery but rape, because when he summoned to his palace the wife of Uriah, one of his faithful officers deployed in battle, she couldn’t refuse. When she became pregnant, and David realized he couldn’t hide from Uriah what he had done, he covered up his sin by having the army set up Uriah to die in battle. In this David was utterly contemptible.And this is the man about w
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Blog postGod will give him the throne of David his Father.(Responsorial: Psalm 132)2 Samuel 7: 18-29: There is something very interesting in David’s response to God’s promise. His focus is not on what it meant to himself, but on what it says about God:According to your own heart, you have wrought all this greatness, so that your servant may know it.Therefore you are great, O LORD God; for there is no one like you, and there is no God besides you,...Thus your name will be magnified forever in the saying,
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Blog postForever I will keep my love for him.(Responsorial: Psalm 89)In 2 Samuel 7:4-17 God made a breathtaking promise to David:I will make for you a great name, like the names of the great ones of the earth… I will … raise up your offspring after you… He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.What would it be like to live in awareness that God made a promise like that to you? Has God destined each one of us for greatness, or just a special few?We find th
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Blog postWho is this king of glory? It is the Lord. (Responsorial: Psalm 24)In 2 Samuel 6:12-19 David made a fool of himself in the eyes of his wife Michal, Saul’s daughter. They were bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the city, and David was dancing, “whirling around before the Lord with all his might, wearing nothing but a linen loincloth.” Michal “despised him in her heart” and told him sarcastically: “How the king of Israel honored himself today, showing himself half naked before the eyes of his s
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Blog postMy faithfulness and love shall be with him.(Responsorial: Psalm 89)In 2 Samuel 5:1-10 the people give power to David.“The LORD said to you: It is you who shall… be ruler over Israel.” So all the elders… anointed David king over Israel.They did it because they knew the Lord had chosen him. This is the only real and legitimate source of authority.We obey authorities because they are over us in our employment, or elected officials, or sometimes because, literally or not, they are “holding a gun to
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Blog postTHE THIRD SUNDAY OF THE YEAR A Appreciating the Life in the LightInventoryWhat one book have you learned the most from in your life? Who wrote it? How often do you read or consult it now?InputThe Entrance Antiphon calls us to “sing a new song to the Lord,” because “truth and beauty surround him.” To keep singing a new song, we have to keep entering into new truth, new beauty. The “Beauty ever ancient, ever new” that St. Augutine wrote of. We can find him, the Word, in his word. St. Jerome said,
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Blog post“Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.”(Responsorial: Mark 16:15; Psalm 117)Acts 22:3-16 is Paul’s basic experience of Jesus. It gives the key to everything he preached and wrote for the rest of his life. The Jesus Paul met, the Jesus he was aware of from that minute forward, was Jesus identified with those who believe in him.When Paul asked, “Who are you?” Jesus answered, “I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.” Paul could have responded, “I am persecuting your followers, no
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Blog postHave mercy on me, God, have mercy..(Responsorial: Psalm 57)1 Samuel 24: 3-21 shows us a contrast in awareness. Saul was intent on killing David, his focus limited to only one thing: David was a threat to his position and power. When Saul came alone into the cave where David and his men were hiding, and did not see them, all his men could think of was, “This is our chance to kill him.” But David was keenly aware of something else: “He is the anointed of the Lord.” David felt guilty for even cutt
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Blog postIn God I trust; I shall not fear.(Responsorial: Psalm 56)In 1Samuel 18:6 to 19:7 envy of David’s popularity makes Saul decide to kill him. This was really stupid. What had he ceased to be aware of?Saul had forgotten he was only king by obedience: because God told him to be. Without God’s support, what was he?He was ignoring the gift of Fear of the Lord, which would have shown him that, seen in perspective, the real value of his kingship was in the relationship he had with the Infinite God who ha
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Blog postBlessed be the Lord, my rock. (Responsorial: Psalm 144)In 1 Samuel 17: 32-51 young David brings down the giant Goliath with a slingshot. But the heart of the story is the difference between what Goliath was aware of and what David was.Goliath was just aware of what he saw: his size and strength compared to David’s, his weapons compared to David’s. David was aware of something not seen: the mystery of God’s presence, God’s involvement in the fight, and of himself as aided by God’s strength.We can
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Blog postI have found David my servant. (Responsorial: Psalm 89)1 Samuel 16: 1-13 tells how God chose David to replace Saul, to whom Samuel said that, had he obeyed, “The LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.” But God called David “a man after his own heart,” and never rejected him. Why?David raped the wife of a faithful officer, and ordered him murdered in a shameful way to cover up his crime. Was Saul’s sin worse than that? 1David broke God’s law in a way that was horrible. But
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Blog postTo the upright I will show thesaving power of God. (Responsorial: Psalm 50)1 Samuel 15: 16-23 makes it forcefully clear that the first and essential way to glorify God or “hallow” his Name is to do what he commands. The failure to do this is what gives religion a bad name.When Saul attacked the Amalekites, God told him through Samuel to “utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep.” But:Saul and the people spared the best of
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Blog postTHE SECOND SUNDAY OF THE YEAR A“A Light to the Nations”Seeing and Being the Light of PeaceInventoryTo what do you look for peace, both in your heart and in your world? Or have you concluded that there is no use looking at all?InputThe Entrance Antiphon invites us and “all the earth” to “break into song.” Inspired by what? The answer is “your name, O God, Most High.” What puts music on our lips is the desire to give God “worship and praise.”The Opening Prayer tells us that our Father’s “watchful
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Blog postLord, your strength gives joy to the king. (Responsorial: Psalm 21)1Samuel 9:1 to 10:1 God tells Samuel he has chosen Saul to be Israel’s king:“You shall anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have seen the suffering of my people.”When Samuel told Saul this, Saul had a hard time believing it. He answered:“My family is the humblest of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin. Why then have you spoken to me in this way?”But Sa
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Blog postForever I will sing the goodness of the Lord. (Responsorial: Psalm 89)Too few people are aware that the bishops at Vatican II called on every Catholic to “undertake with vigor the task of renewal and reform” in response to abuses in the Church:For although the Catholic Church has been endowed with all divinely revealed truth and with all means of grace, her members fail to live by them with all the fervor they should. As a result, the radiance of the Church’s face shines less brightly… and the g
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Blog postForever I will sing the goodness of the Lord. (Responsorial: Psalm 89)Too few people are aware that the bishops at Vatican II called on every Catholic to “undertake with vigor the task of renewal and reform” in response to abuses in the Church: For although the Catholic Church has been endowed with all divinely revealed truth and with all means of grace, her members fail to live by them with all the fervor they should. As a result, the radiance of the Church’s face shines less brightly… and the
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Blog postHere am I, Lord, I come to do your will!(Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 40)1 Samuel 3:1-20 tells us how Samuel came to recognize the voice of the Lord and to know when God was speaking to him. This is what made him a prophet.The reading begins: “It was rare for the Lord to speak in those days; visions were uncommon.” Many think this is true in our time. And we may identify with the description: “Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.”But the truth
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Blog postMy heart rejoices in the Lord, my Savior!(Responsorial Psalm: 1 Samuel 2:1-8)In 1 Samuel 1:9-20 when Hannah asked the Lord for a child, “she conceived and gave birth to a son, and called him Samuel ‘since,’ she said, ‘I asked the Lord for him.’” (Samuel in Hebrew means “the name of God is…” but also sounds like the word for “ask”).For Hannah, giving life through childbirth was fulfillment. And she begged God for it with such emotion, “pouring out her soul before the Lord,” that Eli the priest, w
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Blog postTo you Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise!(Responsorial: Psalm 116)The Old Testament readings for the first weeks of Ordinary Time will take us through the stories of Samuel, Saul, David and Solomon: all great “names” in sacred history, men chosen explicitly by God for the role they were to play. As we see their lives develop and the meaning of their names unfold, we are conscious that we are all “writing our names” by the choices we make in life. What we choose determines who we are more
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Blog postFEAST OF THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD“Daughters and sons in the Son” —filii in FilioAppreciating Christ’s Baptism as Revelation, ours as Transformation.InventoryHow would you answer now the basic question of life: “Who is Jesus Christ for you?” How would you answer the second question: “Who are you?”Does the answer to the first question give you the answer to the second?InputThe Entrance Antiphon shows God the Father introducing Jesus to the world: “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pl
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Blog postThe Responsorial Psalm assures us, “The Lord takes delight in his people” (Psalm 149). That includes us.1 John 5: 14-21 keeps insisting that “we know” God takes delight in us because “we are… in his Son Jesus Christ.” Because we are “in Christ,” sharing in his divine life, God is able to “see and love in us what he sees and loves in Christ” (Sunday Preface VII). God’s own truth and love are in us, and they are our own reality. That is a fact more basic than our lapses in living by them. Our sins
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Blog postThe Responsorial Psalm sings, “Praise the Lord, Jerusalem” (Psalm 147).1 John 5: 5-13 tells us why: it is because we have the life of God in us, and we can know it. “And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever possesses the Son has life; whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life.”How do we know we really are in life-giving union with Jesus Christ? “There are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood.”If the experienc
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Blog postThe Responsorial Psalm persists with the Epiphany theme, “Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.”1 John 4:19 to 5:4 concludes from this that we have to love the people of “every nation on earth.”John argues, “Everyone who loves the Father loves also the one begotten by him.” This includes Jesus and all who have become “children of God” through belief in him. Therefore “those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also,” all who are God’s children by grace.It is only a logical ext
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Blog postThe Responsorial Psalm tells us, “Lord,every nation on earth will adore you” (Psalm 72).This is a promise that supports hope and motivates us to love.1John 4: 11-18 tells us that if we show love to one another, we will grow in love, and God’s love will be “brought to perfection in us.” But what is the sign that tells us this is actually happening?If we think like Christ and love like Christ, we must be alive by the Spirit of Christ. This is what tells us we are truly in union with Christ, and th
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Blog postThe Responsorial Psalm foretells, “Lord, every nation on earth will adore you” (Psalm 72). Picture it.Adoration is a total, all-unifying response to the overwhelming truth and beauty of God. Before the infinite Being of God, in whom all truth, all goodness are One, we ourselves are reduced to one act. There is nothing to say, nothing to do, nothing to add. All is before us. We simply condense ourselves into one silent, wordless word of affirmation. In our silence we become a single word expresse
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Blog postThe Responsorial Psalm promises the Messiah: “I will give you all nations for an inheritance” (Psalm 2).The truth of Christ can enlighten and shine through every culture on earth. Christ’s love can transform and bring to perfection every human endeavor. All of creation has been redeemed by Jesus, and all of creation can be the medium through which his glory shines. Jesus and the Church say with the Roman poet: Nihil humanum mihi alienum puto: “I see nothing human as foreign to me.”1 John 3: 22 t
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Blog postThe Feast of the EpiphanyJesus is the Guiding StarAppreciating and Accepting Jesus as Light leading the world into his gloryInventoryDo you feel guided in your life? By what? What do you use from day to day to keep you on course toward your life’s goals?•Do you have more than one goal in life? If so, what unifies or harmonizes them?InputThe Epiphany is all about Jesus leading us by his Light to his Light. The theme is light and motion — guided by a vision of glory.Light and joy go together. Joy
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Blog postThe Responsorial Psalm assures us, “All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God” (Psalm98).1 John 3: 7-10 tells us “Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil…. Those who have been born of God do not sin.” How should we understand this?John makes the distinction later (5: 16-18) between sin that is “deadly” or “mortal” and “sin that is not deadly.” For a sin to be “mortal,” what is done must be so evil in itself that it is absolutely incompatible with graced love of God and
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Blog postThe Responsorial Psalm calls us to recognize the mystery of our identity: “All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God” (Psalm 98).1 John 2:29 to 3:6 tells us that the “world,” meaning those in whom faith is not enlightening, “does not recognize us.” As what? The answer is “children of God.” But John insists, “Yet that is what we are.”Do we recognize this ourselves? We all accept the words and profess them as our faith. But do we really see ourselves, accept ourselves, value ours
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Blog postThe Responsorial Psalm is proclamation of the Incarnation of God in Jesus:“All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God” (Psalm 98).1 John 2: 22-28 exhorts us not to deny the grace we have received or the truth revealed to us.That truth is that Jesus Christ is God himself made flesh. “Whoever has seen [Jesus] has seen the Father” (John 14:9,12:45). And vice-versa, “Anyone who denies the Son has no claim on the Father.” We can only claim God as our Father if we are “in Christ”; tha
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Blog postInventoryHow do you feel about the start of the New Year? Does the celebration of Mary as Mother of God help you toorient yourself as you begin it? What does this feast mean to you personally?InputThe Entrance Antiphon proclaims, “A light will shine on us this day....” God’s light shone in a special way when the Church declared it a dogma of faith at the Council of Ephesus, 431 A.D., that Mary is rightly called “Mother of God.” This doctrine was defined, not because of what it says about Mary, b
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Blog postThe Responsorial Psalm still invites us, “Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice” (Psalm 96).1 John 2: 18-21 gives us an unexpected reason for rejoicing: “Many antichrists have appeared…. They went out from us, but…. their desertion shows that they were not really of our number.”John is talking about people who left the Church preaching a view of life in radical contradiction to the truth revealed in Jesus. He judges that they didn’t lose the faith; they just never truly embraced it. What
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Blog postThe Responsorial Psalm invites us again, “Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice” (Psalm 96).1 John 2: 2-17 tells us why: “because your sins have been forgiven… because you know him who is from the beginning… because you have conquered the Evil One… because you know the Father… you are strong and the word of God remains in you….”John acknowledges the power of “the world,” meaning the infected societies in which all humans live, whose false attitudes and values keep affecting us because we
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Blog postHOLY FAMILY SUNDAY(The first Sunday after Christmas)Appreciating and Accepting Jesus as:“Emmanuel – God-with-us” who interacts with us in human waysInventoryWhom do you know best in your family? How did that happen? Did you spend more time together? Talk more deeply to each other? What is it you do with your friends that makes you friends? How many of these things can you do with Jesus?InputThe Entrance Antiphon tells us Jesus was first seen by shepherds, who “found Mary and Joseph, and the baby
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Blog postThe Holy InnocentsThe Responsorial Psalm speaks of God’s power and will to save us:“Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare” (Psalm 124).1 John 1:5 to 2:2 is based on recognition that the essential sin is simply to reject union — koinonia, fellowship, communion — with Jesus Christ. All other sins are just signs that tell us if we are in union with him or not.For John, being in communion with the Christian community is the greatest sign of union with Christ. And living by Ch
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Blog postThe Responsorial Psalm gives us the key, not only to thereadings, but to Christian life: “Rejoice in the Lord, you just” (Psalm 97).1 John 1: 1-4 explains why we rejoice: “Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” In Jesus, the Word of life, “life was made visible… the eternal life that was with the Father was made visible to us.” And John, called the “Evangelist” (the “Good-News-er”), proclaims it to all who will listen “so that you too may have fellowship with us.”This
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Blog postThe Responsorial Psalm is the Christian response to death: “Into your hands, O Lord, I entrust my spirit” (Psalm 31).Acts 6:8 to 7:59 reminds us that the Good News is good news even when it seems to be bad! Stephen isstoned to death by his own people for proclaiming Jesus. But before they attacked him, “filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” That is what gave him the faith, the hope and the love to pray, while they
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Blog postCHRISTMAS MORNING (Mass During the Day) The Responsorial Psalm proclaims: “All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God” (Psalm 98). And all three readings emphasize the uniqueness of this “saving power,” which abides in Jesus, who is uniquely the “Son of God.”Isaiah 52: 7-10 keeps insisting that the power that saves us is God’s own: “Your God is King!,” ”They see… before their eyes, the LORD restoring Zion…. The LORD comforts his people… the LORD has bared his holy arm….”Hebrews
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Blog postCHRISTMAS MIDNIGHT MASSThe Good News of Jesus the SaviorInventory“Gospel” means “Good News.” Have you experienced Christianity as good news or just heard that it is? How is Jesus “news” to people today? What is so good about whatever Christianity is? When do you personally think about this and celebrate it?InputThe Entrance Antiphon tells us, “Let us all rejoice in the Lord, for our Savior is born to the world. True peace has descended from heaven.” What gives hope of peace is something (Someone
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Blog postThe Feast of Christ’s BirthInventoryDo you appreciate Jesus? What effect does he have on your daily life? Does the thought of him make you happy? How often do you think of him?What does it mean to you (affectively as well as intellectually) to say Jesus is the Savior of the world and your Savior?InputThe Entrance Antiphon tells us, “Today you will know the Lord is coming to save us, and in the morning you will see his glory.” This is from Exodus 16: 6-7, when God promises to “rain bread from hea
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Blog postThe Responsorial Psalm proclaims: “Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord” (Psalm 89: 2-9). Thegoodness celebrated here and in both the readings is God’s “steadfast love,” a phrase found 173 times in the Bible.When Moses asked God, “Show me your glory,” God answered, “I will make all my goodness pass before you.” Then “the LORD passed before him, and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 3
Books By David M. Knight
A Fresh Look at the Mass: A Helpful Guide to Better Understand and Celebrate the Mystery
Apr 20, 2015
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David Knight
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