What a difference there is between King Solomon in the old testament reading for mass, and the Pharisees in today’s gospel! They are like night and day. King Solomon praised God before the whole community of Israel, but the Pharisees did nothing but criticize and find fault with the son of God right in front of everyone gathered around them. How could things have deteriorated that badly, from King Solomon’s time, to the time period that Jesus lived in?
King Solomon had the heart of a great king. But, the Pharisees had such hard hearts that they only looked out for their own self interests and strict adherence to the rules. There is just no comparison between the two.
King Solomon praises God with his whole being and all of his heart, “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.” He focused on God’s mercy, not superficial rules.
It’s awesome the way King Solomon describes God’s holy people. He didn’t notice their sins, but their hearts. King Solomon praised the hearts of God’s people and praised God with every single word he spoke. In the last sentence in this reading from the book of Kings, King Solomon asked God to listen to the prayers of the people and grant them pardon. He prayed for mercy for them.
Most of the time it seems that the psalm for the day is not usually brought up in our priests homilies, or other commentaries or reflections on the readings for mass, but today, we should take the time to read the psalm for mass. Psalm 84. King Solomon’s father, King David, wrote these words and with what passion and feeling! King David’s passion for God became his son Solomon’s passion for God and service to Him as well. What a difference between King David’s son Absalom who tried to kill him and take his kingdom, and Solomon who loved God just as much as he did. Two sons that were raised the same way, turned out to be complete opposites of one another. Parents of adult children should take note of this because good parenting does not always produce the same results.
Psalm 84 reflects some of the deepest longings of mankind though. We were created to know God and to love Him. We crave His presence. A brief excerpt of this beautiful psalm says that:
“My soul yearns and pines
for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God.”
How can you not relate to this? Psalm 42 says something similar, “As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. My being thirsts for God, the living God.”
The next verses from today’s psalm reflect how many of us feel, every time we go to mass. It is like your soul comes to life in a way that is just not possible anywhere else:
“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!
I had rather one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere.”
Do you ever feel like you have come “home” when you arrive for mass? The church, the mass, is an oasis of peace, and healing and comfort in stressful and trying times, and a place of joy and celebration in good times. The mass and our faith is the one constant thing in our lives that will never change until the day we die, and actually, it doesn’t even change then. Life is about constant change, but God and Jesus Christ are the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow. And what a good thing that is!
The bad thing is how the Pharisees clung to the way things had always been done and shut their hearts to the possibility of love. They would rather have their rules, than hearts that sing with praises to God and mercy toward their fellow human beings. What a difference they were to King Solomon and King David.
A thought for today might be to ask ourselves if we follow our hearts most of the time? Or the rules? The rules have no meaning without the heart.
Daily Mass Readings:
1 Kgs 8: 22-23, 27-30 / Ps 84: 3, 4, 5, 10 / Mark 7: 1-13
