20220131 WEAKNESS OR MAGNANIMITY
31 January, 2022, Monday, Week 4 in Ordinary Time
First reading |
2 Samuel 15:13-14,30,16:5-13 © |
David flees Absalom and is cursed by Shimei
A messenger came to tell David, ‘The hearts of the men of Israel are now with Absalom.’ So David said to all his officers who were with him in Jerusalem, ‘Let us be off, let us fly, or we shall never escape from Absalom. Leave as quickly as you can in case he mounts a surprise attack and worsts us and puts the city to the sword.’
David then made his way up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, his head covered and his feet bare. And all the people with him had their heads covered and made their way up, weeping as they went.
As David was reaching Bahurim, out came a man of the same clan as Saul’s family. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he came he uttered curse after curse and threw stones at David and at all King David’s officers, though the whole army and all the champions flanked the king right and left. The words of his curse were these, ‘Be off, be off, man of blood, scoundrel! the Lord has brought on you all the blood of the House of Saul whose sovereignty you have usurped; and the Lord has transferred that same sovereignty to Absalom your son. Now your doom has overtaken you, man of blood that you are.’ Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, ‘Is this dead dog to curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut his head off.’ But the king replied, ‘What business is it of mine and yours, sons of Zeruiah? Let him curse. If the Lord said to him, “Curse David,” what right has anyone to say, “Why have you done this?”’ David said to Abishai and all his officers, ‘Why, my own son, sprung from my body, is now seeking my life; so now how much the more this Benjaminite? Let him curse on if the Lord has told him to. Perhaps the Lord will look on my misery and repay me with good for his curse today.’ So David and his men went on their way.
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 3:2-8 © |
Arise, Lord; save me, my God.
How many are my foes, O Lord!
How many are rising up against me!
How many are saying about me:
‘There is no help for him in God.’
Arise, Lord; save me, my God.
But you, Lord, are a shield about me,
my glory, who lift up my head.
I cry aloud to the Lord.
He answers from his holy mountain.
Arise, Lord; save me, my God.
I lie down to rest and I sleep.
I wake, for the Lord upholds me.
I will not fear even thousands of people
who are ranged on every side against me.
Arise, Lord; save me, my God.
Arise, Lord; save me, my God.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn17:17 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth.
Alleluia!
Or: | Lk7:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
A great prophet has appeared among us;
God has visited his people.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 5:1-20 © |
The Gadarene swine
Jesus and his disciples reached the country of the Gerasenes on the other side of the lake, and no sooner had Jesus left the boat than a man with an unclean spirit came out from the tombs towards him. The man lived in the tombs and no one could secure him any more, even with a chain; because he had often been secured with fetters and chains but had snapped the chains and broken the fetters, and no one had the strength to control him. All night and all day, among the tombs and in the mountains, he would howl and gash himself with stones. Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and fell at his feet and shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What do you want with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? Swear by God you will not torture me!’ – for Jesus had been saying to him, ‘Come out of the man, unclean spirit.’ ‘What is your name?’ Jesus asked. ‘My name is legion,’ he answered ‘for there are many of us.’ And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the district.
Now there was there on the mountainside a great herd of pigs feeding, and the unclean spirits begged him, ‘Send us to the pigs, let us go into them.’ So he gave them leave. With that, the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the herd of about two thousand pigs charged down the cliff into the lake, and there they were drowned. The swineherds ran off and told their story in the town and in the country round about; and the people came to see what had really happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his full senses – the very man who had had the legion in him before – and they were afraid. And those who had witnessed it reported what had happened to the demoniac and what had become of the pigs. Then they began to implore Jesus to leave the neighbourhood. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed begged to be allowed to stay with him. Jesus would not let him but said to him, ‘Go home to your people and tell them all that the Lord in his mercy has done for you.’ So the man went off and proceeded to spread throughout the Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.
WEAKNESS OR MAGNANIMITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [2 Sm 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13; Ps 3:2-8; Mk 5:1-20]
In todays’ first reading, King David was suffering the consequences of his past sins which affected his children. Absalom had turned against his father by seeking to overthrow him. He started a rebellion. Where did he get such courage? Perhaps he saw his father’s weakness in dealing with members of his own family. His sister, Tamar was raped by her half-brother Amnon but David took no action against him. Understandably, Absalom was angry and vindictive. He revenged her by killing Amnon. Again, David did nothing, which could have fuelled his impression that his father was weak when it came to dealing with his own family members. True enough, David meekly left the city to spare the residents from bloodshed, and even then, David would not have had the courage to kill his own son. “David then made his way up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, his head covered and his feet bare. And all the people with him had their heads covered and made their way up, weeping as they went.”
Then as they were going down the slope, another incident once again brought out the weakness of David. A man from the clan of Saul’s family, Shimei “uttered curse after curse and threw stones at David and at all King David’s officers, though the whole army and all the champions flanked the king right and left. The words of his curse were these, ‘Be off, be off, man of blood, scoundrel!” We can appreciate again his resentment against David for allowing their enemies to take revenge on Saul by slaying the members of Saul’s family. (2 Sm 21:1-10) Hence, Shimei called David, a man of blood. Against such insults, David’s officer, Abishai said, “Is this dead dog to curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head.” But the king replied, “What business is it of mine and yours? Let him curse. If the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David,’ what right has anyone to say, ‘Why have you done this?'”
However, this is just one perspective of looking at the actions of King David. Perhaps we could also view his weakness as a virtue because it also demonstrates his compassion and humility. We can be sure, he loved all his children. When they hurt each other, he must have grieved over them. Perhaps, this explains his inaction when Tamar was raped by Amnon. So too when Absalom took revenge by killing Amnon. And even when Absalom rebelled, not only did he escape to avoid bloodshed in Jerusalem but most likely, he did not want to fight with his son. He would rather take refuge than have a battle with him, causing more suffering and death to all. After all, it was fundamentally a family quarrel, rather than political. So on one hand, he could be faulted for being weak, but yet he was strong in love and compassion.
This same attitude could also be viewed with regards to the insult hurled at him by Shimei and the accusations brought against him. That he did not react perhaps could be an afterthought and guilt he bore for cooperating with the Gibeonites by handing over the seven sons of Saul to appease their anger against Saul and the kingdom of Israel. (2 Samuel 21.1-10) Or could it be because David was magnanimous? Instead of taking revenge, he surrendered justice and his life to God. David said to Abishai and all his officers, “Why, my own son, sprung from my body, is now seeking my life; so now how much the more this Benjaminite? Let him curse on if the Lord has told him to. Perhaps the Lord will look on my misery and repay me with good for his curse today.” Once again, some will judge him to be weak and a coward for not responding firmly to the insults of Shimei, whilst others will judge the non-retaliation of David positively as a virtuous act in accordance with the gospel, when our Lord told us to forgive our enemies and not to take revenge. David was a magnanimous man in spite of his moral weakness. He was humble to acknowledge his own faults and sinfulness. He was ready to suffer the consequences of his mistakes. Hence, he accepted the humiliations positively as permitted by God. In faith, he accepted whatever came from Him.
In the gospel, we have another incident of weakness and compassion. “Jesus and his disciples reached the country of the Gerasenes on the other side of the lake, and no sooner had he left the boat than a man with an unclean spirit came out from the tombs towards him. The man lived in the tombs and no one could secure him anymore, even with a chain, because he had often been secured with fetters and chains but had snapped the chains and broken the fetters, and no one had the strength to control him.” Indeed, he was so strong that no one could overpower him. He was not even afraid of death because “among the tombs and in the mountains, he would howl and gash himself with stones.”
The manner in which Jesus dealt with this case is also puzzling. Firstly, we are told that the unclean spirit would not come out of the man even when the Lord commanded him. This is something that has never happened before. In all the other cases, with one command, the evil spirit would leave the person. How is it that Jesus appeared to lack the power and authority to order the unclean spirit to leave the man?
Secondly, we are told that Jesus asked for the name of the unclean spirit. “Jesus had been saying to him, ‘Come out of the man, unclean spirit.’ What is your name?’ Jesus asked. ‘My name is legion,’ he answered ‘for there are many of us.'” Indeed, this spirit must be very powerful to command so many spirits under him, between four to six thousand.
Thirdly, it is not normal for the unclean spirit to negotiate with Jesus to spare them. It said, “Swear by God you will not torture me! On the mountainside a great herd of pigs were feeding and the unclean spirit begged him, ‘Send us to the pigs, let us go into them. So he gave them leave. With that, the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the herd of about two thousand pigs charged down the cliff into the lake, and there they were drowned.” Why would Jesus do such a thing? He caused the death of 2000 pigs and set the unclean spirits free to find another place to dwell in. Was it out of compassion that Jesus granted the request, or was it a strategy to bring out the power of evil and then ultimately to cast them out?
What was the reaction of the inhabitants when they saw this incident? “They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his full senses – the very man who had had the legion in him before – and they were afraid. And those who had witnessed it reported what had happened to the demoniac and what had become of the pigs. Then they began to implore Jesus to leave the neighbourhood.” They were terrified not so much that the unclean spirit was very powerful but because Jesus had set the unclean spirits free, they could no longer locate the evil force and avoid it. With the death of the pigs, not only it was a huge economic loss but the danger was out of control. The conclusion was that Jesus was a liability. Their lives were no longer safe if Jesus was with them.
The other way to overcome their fear and weakness is of course faith. If only they had faith in Jesus, they would not have had to contend with the power of evil lurking in their midst any longer. If they had faith, they would have valued the dignity and freedom of the possessed man more than the pigs. In this case, his life was regarded as less than the price of 2000 pigs. Do we put a price on human life? But this is how the world regards their fellowmen. To protect their own security and self-interests, they are ready to kill, even innocent people, and not just their enemies, as we see in the wars being fought. But Jesus regarded every human person as important and significant. At all costs, He would set them free. Faith in Him is the key to being set free from fear that inhibits us from acting graciously with compassion even when dealing with our enemies. Only the man set free had the courage and freedom to proclaim Jesus.
Perhaps, from this story, King David is vindicated after all. Sometimes, meekness is perceived by the world as weakness. Actually, it requires great strength not to retaliate and take revenge. If we can use persuasion and kindness to change people to do the right thing, it would be ideal. But using force, might and power may not always be the best way to deal with our enemies. Hence, for a leader to remain calm, focused and strong in spite of the temptation to retaliate against those who hurt us, requires much faith in God, and much compassion for those who are weak. Through love and compassion, we seek to win them over.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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