St. Anthony, abbot 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

1 Samuel 15:16-23

Samuel then told Saul,

“Enough! Let me tell you what Yahweh said to me last night.” Saul replied, “Please tell me.” So Samuel went on and said.” Though you had no confidence in yourself, you became chief of the tribes of Israel, for Yahweh wanted to anoint you king over Israel.

Then he sent you with this command, ‘Go. Completely crush the Amalekite offenders, engaging them in battle until they are destroyed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of Yahweh but instead swooped down on the spoil, doing what was evil in his sight?”

To this, Saul replied, “ I have obeyed the voice of Yahweh and have carried out the mission for which he sent me. I have captured Agag, king of Amalek and completely destroyed the Amalekites.

If my men spared the best sheep and oxen from among those to be destroyed, it was in order to sacrifice them to Yahweh, your God, in Gilgal.”Samuel then said, “Does Yahweh take as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obedience to his command?

Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission better than the fat of rams. Rebellion is like the sin of divination, and stubbornness like holding onto idols. Since you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he too has rejected you as king.”

     

Ps 50:8-9,16bc-17, 21 & 23

To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Mark 2:18-22

 One day, when the disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees were fasting, some people asked Jesus, “Why is it that both the disciples of John and of the Pha­risees fast, but yours do not?”

  Jesus answered, “How can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bride­groom with them, they cannot fast.   But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them and on that day they will fast.

 No one sews a piece of new cloth on an old coat, because the new patch will shrink and tear away from the old cloth, making a worse tear.   And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, for the wine would burst the skins and then both the wine and the skins would be lost. But new wine, new skins!”

 

     

The good vs the Best

As the saying goes, the good can be the enemy of the best. It applies to our spiritual intentions as well. Mystics often warn us to be on guard against devil presenting itself as an angel of light, offering us good inspirations which seem to lead us in God’s ways, but actually take us away from God.

When Saul captured the best of oxen and sheep from the Amalekites, it was with the noble intention of sacrificing them to the Lord in thanksgiving. But as Samuel points out to him, obedience is far greater and nobler than sacrifice.

The Gospel resonates with similar insight too. Neither fasting nor feasting has any merit of its own; they carry relevance only in reference to God. if one’s austerities serve to take one away from God and one’s neighbor, they endanger the soul. Lord, give us this day our daily bread of discernment of your Will.