Homily for January 2019 Holy Hour
1 Samuel 8:1-22
Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
Romans 13:1-6
Matthew 22:15-22<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\nmuch of the Old Testament period, people were led by \u201ckings\u201d. Yet, before the time of Samuel, Israel did\nnot have a king. Ultimately God was\ntheir king.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\ndid have human leaders. Moses was the\none through whom God led the Israelites out of Egypt. Joshua was his successor. Then came a series of leaders who were known\nas \u201cjudges.\u201d They were not officials in\nthe court room but leaders of the people. \nSamuel was the last of the \u201cjudges\u201d and he was also a great prophet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nfirst reading we just heard is the story of what happened at the end of\nSamuel\u2019s time as the Israelites\u2019 leader. \nHe appointed his sons as judges to succeed him but they \u201cdid not follow his example, but looked to\ntheir own gain, accepting bribes and perverting justice<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So,\nquite understandably, the Israelites asked for different leadership. Rather than looking to God for guidance, they\nlooked to other nations and saw they all had kings. So, they asked Samuel to appoint a king over\nthem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At\nGod\u2019s direction, Samuel told them of the bad things kings would do, including\nselfish acts, taking their sons, and their \u201cbest\nfields, vineyards, and olive groves.<\/em>\u201d \nThey \u201crefused to listen to\nSamuel\u2019s warning<\/em>\u201d and insisted on a king.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God\nlet them have what they wanted. Saul\nbecame their first king. Saul was a terrible\nking. Then David succeeded Saul. In many ways David was a great king but he\nwas also a sinner. His son Solomon was\nhis successor but if you read the whole story you see how other sons of David\ntried to seize the throne for selfish gain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From\nDavid and Solomon came a long line of kings, some good, many bad until Jesus\ncame as the heir to David. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Does\nthis mean that should never be \u201ckings\u201d? <\/p>\n\n\n\n We\ndon\u2019t have a king in our country today but we do have government leaders, some\ngood and some bad. Don\u2019t worry, I am not\ngoing to talk about any specific politician today. I\u2019m not looking to give a commentary on the\ncurrent state of affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If\nyou look at our second reading tonight, Paul speaks of being \u201csubordinate to higher authorities<\/em>.\u201d If you look at Pope St. John XXIII\u2019s\nencyclical, Peace on Earth<\/em>, you can\nread what he writes about the need for public authority. Canon Law calls for us to follow civil law as\nlong as it doesn\u2019t conflict with our faith. \nSomeone has to be in charge. \nHowever, their goal should never be selfish gain. They must rule for the common good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We\nread in Paul\u2019s Letter to the Romans on how true authority comes from God. In our democratic view, many think that the\nauthority of the elected comes from the vote of the people. This in turn means for them that those in\ngovernment must do whatever<\/em><\/strong> the people want. \nThis leads to thinking that whatever the majority wants determines right\nand wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\nis not true.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Of\ncourse, we need to apply what God teaches us to the circumstances in our lives\nbut it is God who determines what is right and wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So,\nwhat are we to do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pray! For what? \nLook at the first part of our psalm this evening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cO God, with your judgment endow the king,\nand with your justice, the king\u2019s son; he shall govern your people with justice\nand your afflicted ones with judgment.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\ndoesn\u2019t matter whether we like our government leaders or not, we\nmust pray for them<\/em><\/strong>. However, we\nshould not<\/em><\/strong> be praying that they do what we want. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We\nneed to pray that God\u2019s will be done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Homily for January 2019 Holy Hour1 Samuel 8:1-22Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13Romans 13:1-6Matthew 22:15-22 In much of the Old Testament period, people were led by \u201ckings\u201d. Yet, before the time of Samuel, Israel did not have a king. Ultimately God was their king. They did have human leaders. Moses was the one through whom God …<\/p>\n