Monday ....

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Today is Monday, February 3, 2014.
The feast of St. Blaise.

Good Morning.

A thought for the day:
The arms of Christ were stretched out upon the cross to embrace everyone.

Today’s 1st reading: 2 Samuel chapter 15 verses 13-14, 30; 16: 5-13


An informant came to David with the report,
“The children of Israel have transferred their loyalty to Absalom.”
At this, David said to all his servants
who were with him in Jerusalem:
“Up! Let us take flight, or none of us will escape from Absalom.
Leave quickly, lest he hurry and overtake us,
then visit disaster upon us and put the city to the sword.”

As David went up the Mount of Olives, he wept without ceasing.
His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot.
All those who were with him also had their heads covered
and were weeping as they went.

As David was approaching Bahurim,
a man named Shimei, the son of Gera
of the same clan as Saul’s family,
was coming out of the place, cursing as he came.
He threw stones at David and at all the king’s officers,
even though all the soldiers, including the royal guard,
were on David’s right and on his left.
Shimei was saying as he cursed:
“Away, away, you murderous and wicked man!
The LORD has requited you for all the bloodshed in the family of Saul,
in whose stead you became king,
and the LORD has given over the kingdom to your son Absalom.
And now you suffer ruin because you are a murderer.”
Abishai, son of Zeruiah, said to the king:
“Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?
Let me go over, please, and lop off his head.”
But the king replied: “What business is it of mine or of yours,
sons of Zeruiah, that he curses?
Suppose the LORD has told him to curse David;
who then will dare to say, ‘Why are you doing this?’”
Then the king said to Abishai and to all his servants:
“If my own son, who came forth from my loins, is seeking my life,
how much more might this Benjaminite do so?
Let him alone and let him curse, for the LORD has told him to.
Perhaps the LORD will look upon my affliction
and make it up to me with benefits
for the curses he is uttering this day.”
David and his men continued on the road,
while Shimei kept abreast of them on the hillside,
all the while cursing and throwing stones and dirt as he went.

* * *
Miles may separate parents from a child, but the umbilical cord of love is rarely torn asunder. One of the tragedies of life occurs when parents and children are separated not merely by school or job responsibilities. Instead, angry words and rash deeds can sever the tie that binds parents and children.

We have all disagreed and quarreled with our parents. If we are parents we have not always agreed that curfew time should be at 3 A.M., or that it would be such a good idea to drop out of school. Disagreements are natural in every parent-child relationship. Teenage rebellion against parents is a part of growing up. The problem comes when both parents and children are adults and have come to distrust and, at times, even hate each other.

Roberta Flack has a lyric which goes, "the first time ever I saw his face." David had not heard this song but sang a melancholy lyric of his own misery's making. David did not hate his son Absalom. He was angered and disappointed in him. The apple of his eye had proved to be the worst apple in the barrel. Absalom had murdered his half-brother Amnon, and had fled to his wife's home in Upper Galilee to escape the long arm of the law. Yet David's deep love for Absalom would never flee his broken heart's sanctuary.

And now David finds himself in fear of his own son. Dear God, what has happened to this family?

Today, let us pray for seriously struggling families.


God bless,
Father Pat