In the first reading for mass today from the book of Kings, the saga continues about King Solomon’s fall from grace. He was doing so well, and had found favor with God at one time, but then he fell from God’s grace because he wasn’t doing the right things. King Solomon was trying to pacify his wives instead of remaining loyal to the calling he had received from God. Surely he must have known that what he was doing was wrong? If King Solomon truly wasn’t aware that his actions were wrong, then he must have been blind sided by God, when his kingdom was taken away from him.
The prophet Ahijah met Jeroboam on the road and they were alone. Right in front of his eyes the prophet ripped apart his new cloak and gave Jeroboam ten pieces of it, telling him that God intended for him to have ten of the tribes of Israel, instead of King Solomon. But, not all was lost. God in His infinite mercy, spared one tribe for King Solomon because because he was King David’s son. No matter how angry God was with King Solomon, he did not take his entire kingdom away from him.
It’s pretty awesome when you think about it, that Jesus Christ was born from the lineage of King Solomon though. Even after the serious mistakes King Solomon made, in the long run God still permitted His own son to be born from his lineage. This should give us hope in difficult, trying times, that all is not lost when really bad things happen to us too. Things could have been a lot worse for King Solomon than what they were. Too often we react with hopelessness and despair when we experience negative events or catastrophes, but it would be better if we could look for the good things that survived, even if they are quite small, and thank God for them.
It wasn’t a small thing at all that Jesus healed a deaf man in today’s gospel. This was a big deal to the people in the district of Decapolis that witnessed this event. The more Jesus told them not to tell anyone about it, the more they proclaimed it. Why? Were they rebellious against the Lord? Or could it be that Jesus knew all along how they would react. He usually did seem to know what was in people’s hearts.
It’s pretty awesome how the people in the community brought the deaf man to Jesus and asked Jesus to cure him though. This community was not only supportive of him, they genuinely cared about the deaf man, or they wouldn’t have brought him to Jesus. It is a wonderful thing to be part of a community of people that seek the ultimate good of one another. When one member is weak in any way, the community can be such a source of strength and support. This happens a lot when people suffer a death in the family, or a serious illness, or a job loss. When one person is weak or suffering in the Body of Christ, then we all suffer too. The opposite is also true. When one person gets married, or celebrates the birth of a child, or grows in their abilities to be of service in the church, then the Body of Christ rejoices. Either way, our lives affect one another whether we mean them to or not.
Something to think about today, would be to ask ourselves if we truly feel like we belong to a loving Catholic faith community? Do we connect with others there? Is the parish welcoming, inclusive and accepting of us? If not, then maybe we could think about doing more of the things for others, that we wish others would do for us. It could catch on, and what an awesome thing that would be!
Daily Mass Readings:
1 Kgs 11: 29-32, 12: 19 / Ps 81: 10-11ab, 12-13, 14-15 / Mk 7: 31-37
