Thursday, July 20, 2023

- July 14, 2023

1 Samuel, Chapter 21, Verse 13

David took note of these remarks and became very much AFRAID of Achish, king of Gath.

One wonders why David was so afraid. According to David Roper this was David’s testing.

Just about the time I think I've got it all together, some unsightly emotional display, some inappropriate reaction, some other embarrassing behavior blows my cover and I have that horrible experience of being found out. It's humiliating! But humiliation is good for the soul. Through it God deals with our self-admiration and pride. Without it we could never make the most of our lives. The trouble with us is that we want to be tremendously important. It's a terrible trait, the essential vice, the utmost evil. It's the sin that turned the devil into the demon he became. Obscurity and humility, on the other hand, release God's greatness. It is the basis of our life with God and our usefulness in this world. Thomas à Kempis wrote, "The more humble a man is in himself, and the more subject unto God; so much more prudent shall he be in all his affairs, and enjoy greater peace and quietness of heart." Because ambition and pride is the center of our resistance to God and the source of so much unhappiness, "God opposes the proud" (James 4:6); he brings us to our knees, where He can then begin to do something with us.

David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. But the servants of Achish said to him, "Isn't this David, the king of the land? Isn't he the one they sing about in their dances: 'Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands'?" David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. Achish said to his servants, "Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this [mad] man come into my house?" David [then] left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam (1 Samuel 21:10-22:1). David fled south from Nob — with Saul in hot pursuit — and he made his way across the Judean hills and through the Valley of Elah where a few years before he had engaged Goliath in combat. It was to Gath — the home of his enemies — that David now turned for shelter from Saul. I don't know what possessed David to flee to Gath. Perhaps he thought he wouldn't be recognized, since this was several years after his encounter with Goliath, and he had grown to manhood. Perhaps he disguised himself in some way. But David was instantly recognized, and his presence was reported to king Achish of Gath: "Isn't this David, the king of the land? Isn't he the one they sing about in their dances: 'Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands'?" The phrase "they sing" could be translated, "they still sing," suggesting a popular tune. David's fame was celebrated everywhere — even in Philistia. You have to understand the implications of this song. David had slain his ten thousands of Philistines; his fame had been established at the expense of bereaved Philistine women and children. Here was an opportunity to take vengeance. Furthermore, he was considered "the king of the land [of Israel]." By some means David became aware that he had been found out, and that he was facing imprisonment and death, so David lost his nerve (see Psalm 34 and 56).

Motivated by sheer terror, David pretended to go mad, foaming at the mouth and scrawling crazy slogans on the walls. According to the title of Psalm 56 the Philistines "seized him" and brought him to Achish, who dismissed him with the contemptuous remark: "Behold, you see a madman! Why have you brought him to me? Am I lacking madmen that you have brought this to ply his madness against me? Must this come into my house?" The word translated "mad man" (21:15), used three times by Achish, suggests something other than insanity. The word in other Near Eastern languages means "highly aggressive" — violent and dangerous — which gives added force to the king's remark: ". . . you have brought this to ply his madness [ravings] against me?" Achish was afraid of David. The title to Psalm 34 supplies the conclusion of the matter: Achish "drove him away," out of his court and out of town — David, run out of town on a rail, utterly humiliated. David, the tough guy, the hero of Israel, the man they celebrated in song and dance had wimped out in the face of physical danger and made an utter fool of himself. With no place else to go, unwelcome in both Israel and Philistia, David fled into a labyrinth of broken ridges and rimrock about three miles from Gath and crept into a cave. The cavern in which he found refuge was called the Cave of Adullum (Adullam means refuge). It can't be located with certainty, but the traditional site is a dark vault located on a shelf at the top of a near-perpendicular cliff. In that dark place — humiliated, crushed, alone — he wrote Psalm 34 and Psalm 56.

He was at his nadir. In that dark place David cried out to God: "This poor [humiliated] man called, and the LORD heard him." There he learned that "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit" (34:6, 18). Lord Byron wrote from Reading Jail, "How else but through a broken heart can Lord Christ enter in?" Furthermore, David learned to boast in the Lord rather than in his own ability (34:2). Through shame and disgrace he became a more modest man — one whom God could shape and use.[1]

What is the significance of Gath in the Bible?

Novena of St. Ann[2]

Daily Prayer to Saint Ann

O glorious St. Ann, you are filled with compassion for those who invoke you and with love for those who suffer! Heavily burdened with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present intention which I recommend to you in your special care.

Please recommend it to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and place it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue. Continue to intercede for me until my request is granted. But, above all, obtain for me the grace one day to see my God face to face, and with you and Mary and all the saints to praise and bless Him for all eternity. Amen.

Our Father, . . . Hail Mary . . .

O Jesus, Holy Mary, St. Ann, help me now and at the hour of my death. Good St. Ann, intercede for me.

FOURTH DAY

Good Saint Ann, you offered your daughter in the temple with faith, piety, and love. With the happiness which then filled your heart, help me to present myself to God and to the world as a committed disciple of Jesus.

Take me under your protection. Strengthen me in my temptations. Show yourself to be a mother and help me to live a life of holiness and love.

Thursday Feast

Thursday is the day of the week that our Lord gave himself up for consumption. Thursday commemorates the last supper. Some theologians believe after Sunday Thursday is the holiest day of the week. We should then try to make this day special by making a visit to the blessed sacrament chapel, Mass or even stopping by the grave of a loved one. Why not plan to count the blessing of the week and thank our Lord. Plan a special meal. Be at Peace.

Jewish Menu for the feast of St. Mary Magdalene Saturday

Jack Daniels
ISRAELI SALAD
MATZOH BALL SOUP
A juicy BRISKET
Jelly-filled SUFGANIYOT

Catechism of the Catholic Church

PART ONE: THE PROFESSION OF FAITH

SECTION TWO-I. THE CREEDS

CHAPTER TWO

I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY SON OF GOD

Article 7-"FROM THENCE HE WILL COME AGAlN TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD"

IN BRIEF

680 Christ the Lord already reigns through the Church, but all the things of this world are not yet subjected to him. the triumph of Christ's kingdom will not come about without one last assault by the powers of evil.

681 On Judgement Day at the end of the world, Christ will come in glory to achieve the definitive triumph of good over evil which, like the wheat and the tares, have grown up together in the course of history.

682 When he comes at the end of time to judge the living and the dead, the glorious Christ will reveal the secret disposition of hearts and will render to each man according to his works, and according to his acceptance or refusal of grace.

Daily Devotions

· Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Reparations for offenses and blasphemies against God and the Blessed Virgin Mary

· St. Margaret of Antioch (July 20th), virgin and martyr. Invoked against backache. Patron for women in childbirth.

· Start Total concentration to Mary on July 20 to end on August 22, the feast of the Queenship of Mary

· Let Freedom Ring Day 14 Freedom from Rebellion

· do a personal eucharistic stations of the cross.

· Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus

· Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

· Drops of Christ’s Blood

· Universal Man Plan

· Rosary