Skip to main content

Advent Series - December 14

Image
By

 

+
JMJ

December 14

Yesterday we read about King Saul. At first Saul was a good king, but then he disobeyed God.
God rejected Saul and commanded the prophet Samuel to find a new king for Israel.

“And the Lord said to Samuel…fill thy horn with oil, and come, that I may send thee to Isai (Jesse) the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.” (1 Kings 16:1)

So Samuel went to Jesse in Bethlehem, and who do you think Jesse was? 
He was the grandson of Booz and Ruth! (The "Jesse Tree" is named after this Jesse)

Jesse brought each of his seven sons to Samuel. They were all large men and very impressive, but God told Samuel that He did not judge by the outward appearance.

And when all seven sons had come, Samuel asked Jesse if these were all his sons. Jesse replied that he had one more; a boy, who looked after the sheep.

Samuel told Jesse to bring him, and when he was come, God said that he was the chosen one. And the boy’s name was David.
So Samuel took the oil and anointed David, but it would be a few years yet until David actually became king.

In the meantime, Saul continued to rule Israel, but he was often depressed and out of sorts because he had lost favour with God. Hoping to find some peace for his troubled mind, Saul looked for someone who could play the harp.

And it was told to Saul that the boy David could play. Hearing that David played the harp, King Saul sent for him. 
At first Saul loved David. When Saul was sad David’s music made him feel better. 

David was a gifted musician, and his songs were prayers to God. They can be found in the Old Testament in the book of Psalms. The Hebrews call the Psalms, “Hymns of Praise”. The psalms of David are sung during the Divine Office by priests, monks and nuns. 

Time passed and the Philistines began to attack Israel again. David’s brothers joined Saul’s army and David returned home to take care of the sheep. One day, the armies of the Israelites and the Philistines were assembled for battle. The Philistines had a HUGE man in their army; a giant named Goliath. 

The Philistines challenged the Israelites to send out a man to fight Goliath. Whoever won the fight would win the war. 
Now Goliath was BIG. Depending on the unit of measure at that time, he was anywhere from 8 to 12.5 feet tall! His armor alone weighed a total of 273 pounds! (See Haydock Catholic Commentary pg 361)

The Israelites did not know what to do! For 40 days they deliberated, but no one would volunteer to fight Goliath! 

Then Jesse sent David to bring food to his brothers at camp. When David got there, he heard about the problem they were having. Right then and there, David offered to fight Goliath, for he trusted in God. 

So taking his sling and five smooth stones, David went out to meet Goliath.

Seeing young David, Goliath cursed him, but David said to him, “I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts…this day, and the Lord will deliver thee into my hand, and I will slay thee, and take away thy head from thee…” (1 Kings 17:45-46)

David took a stone and using his sling, hit the giant in the forehead. Goliath crashed to the ground. Then taking the giant’s own sword, David cut off his head. And taking his head, David carried it away. (Remember the promise of God in Genesis 3:15? Here is another example of “head crushing”)

From that time on, David lived with King Saul and did not return home. And David became close friends with King Saul's son, Jonathan so that they were like brothers. 

Time passed and David grew strong. Saul put him in charge of leading his armies.
David won many battles, and the people sang; 

“Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands”

When Saul heard this, he grew angry, and jealous of David. Saul even tried to kill David, but Jonathan helped his friend escape. 
Many times after that, Saul tried to kill David, but David would not fight the king or do him any harm. 

Finally, Saul came to a sad end. In despair, he killed himself during a battle, falling upon his sword. This brings us to the end of the first book of kings.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Father, Should I Attend That Mass?" Advice on Attending Non-SSPX Latin Masses

By
 + JMJ I see that the 'resistors' are in a tizzy because Fr. Robinson used them as an example instead of the sedevacantists. What is interesting is that you can apply the exact same reasons against going to a sede mass as that of the 'resistors'. Namely: On the other extreme are those situations where an SSPX priest knows that a certain non-SSPX traditionalist venue is a grave danger to the faith . Frankly, most, if not all, of the Resistance Masses would fall into this category. In many cases, the behavior of these priests has been and continues to be scandalous, by their (A) spirit, their (B) preaching, and their indiscriminate conferral of the (C) priesthood and (D) episcopacy. To attend a Mass with such ongoing scandals poses a serious danger to the souls of the faithful. Yep, looking at A,B,C and D the shoe fits. On this basis the "resistors" = "sedevacantists". P^3 Courtesy of SSPX.org   A companion article to a recent "Questions with ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Correcting Caricatures of the SSPX

By
 + JMJ Introduction First, a little background on the FSSP St. John Vianney Chapel in Mission Hill Kansas.  After the 1988 consecrations and the foundation of the FSSP there was a consistent trend of Dioceses allowing the SSPX to run chapels and churches near SSPX locations. As with any 'organizational change' there were those who didn't agree with the change and no longer sought the sacraments from the SSPX. I heard from friends that in that era there was a lot of anger and tension (on both sides) between the St. Mary's SSPX and Mission Hill FSSP.  Second, there have been caricatures of the SSPX position (some are evident below) in which personal opinions of SSPX priests and laity are taken as the official position or conflated with those of sedevacantists or 'resistance'. Recent Perspectives of the SSPX Position In the shadow of the consecrations a fever pitch accusations and opinions how surfaced - many of which include caricatures of the SSPX positions, of w...
Post a Comment
Read more

SSPX: Why Is the SSPX So Criticized?

By
 + JMJ As long as you are ok with what happens in other Catholic Churches, Traditional Catholics will be left 'alone'.  This is a paraphrase of words spoken by an Archbishop to Traditional Catholics (with a sprinkling of SSPX) who had requested the Traditional Latin Mass under Summorum Pontificum. This reflects that attitude of the Church towards anyone who takes issue with some of the ambiguities of Vatican II and the post-conciliar magisterium.  If you reject the papacy but are ok with V2, the New Mass, and what Rome has stated since 1965 - then you are welcome. Question some of the more abiguous statements and ask for Rome to realise that a circle is not a square - then you are in for a world of hurt. This is where the SSPX exists and has existed from almost its very first moments. Pointing out contradictions with previous magisterium is not acceptable - under any condition. Why? Because it will cause the whole V2 house of cards to fall. I guess only when the contradic...
Post a Comment
Read more

Stories: Early Days of Tradition Part 8 - Convention Centre Chapel

By
 + JMJ I came to Tradition a few years after they had bought a chapel. My wife told me of the earlier years when Fr. Normandin would come to town and Mass would be held in a room at the convention centre.  He'd start by blessing the room and then proceed with Mass. This went on for a while before the one of the faithful found a small hall that would suit just fine. They pooled their money and bought the building.  Then came the work as the retiree's refinished the floor, setup the sactuary. Oh, did I mention that I heard that the hall had been used by a motorcycle gang? The floor needed a lot of work.  I remember seeing pictures of the founders working to make the hall into a fitting place for the Sacrifice of the Mass. That little chapel would be a refuge like many others serviced by Fr. Normandin.  From Thunderbay, Ontrario to Nanaimo, British Columbia - the SSPX chapels are all the results of Fr. Normandin's missionary work in those desperate times. Without h...
Post a Comment
Read more

How many more must die for the throne? or How to combat FUD!

By
 + JMJ How many more must die for the throne? (Movie Quote: Prince Caspian) The Spread of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt I've seen a lot of FUD spreading across the intergnat on various stats etc.   So let's put this in context ... especially the perspective of those people in positions of authority who need to make decisions to protect the lives of their citizens. Yep, this is going to be that type of post.  Like it or not the leaders of our governments have their authority from God.  So, as Catholics should know, you need to have a very good reason to deliberately disobey the orders of their superiors. This is basic St. Thomas Aquinas ... so don't blame me for discussing things from a Catholic perspective. The leaders of our countries have taken action to protect the vulnerable of our countries.   As much as the young and not-so-young may whine and complain - I have to ask how many more of our elderly have to die? What the armchair virologists and ec...
10 comments
Read more