2nd book of Samuel 5,1-7.10.
All the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron and said: "Here we are, your bone and your flesh. In days past, when Saul was our king, it was you who led the Israelites out and brought them back. And the LORD said to you, 'You shall shepherd my people Israel and shall be commander of Israel.'" When all the elders of Israel came to David in Hebron, King David made an agreement with them there before the LORD, and they anointed him king of Israel. David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty years: seven years and six months in Hebron over Judah, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem over all Israel and Judah. Then the king and his men set out for Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the region. David was told, "You cannot enter here: the blind and the lame will drive you away!" which was their way of saying, "David cannot enter here." But David did take the stronghold of Zion, which is the City of David. David grew steadily more powerful, for the LORD of hosts was with him.
Psalms 89,20.21-22.25-26.
Once you spoke in vision; to your faithful ones you said: "I have set a leader over the warriors; I have raised up a hero from the army.
I have chosen David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him.
My hand will be with him; my arm will make him strong.
My loyalty and love will be with him; through my name his horn will be exalted.
I will set his hand upon the sea, his right hand upon the rivers.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 3,22-30.
The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "By the prince of demons he drives out demons."Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man's house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house. Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin."For they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."
WATER AND BLOOD
"Here we are, your bone and your flesh." –2 Samuel 5:1
David became king of the tribes of Israel because they were his flesh and blood. They considered it desirable to have their own kin as their ruler, for "blood is thicker than water."
However, in the new covenant, the waters of baptism are thicker than the blood of natural relationship. In other words, the blood of Jesus is thicker than the blood of human kinship. That's why Jesus left His mother and relatives to invest His life in His apostles. He said: "Whoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to Me" (Mk 3:35). On another occasion, after a woman "called out, 'Blest is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you,' " Jesus made the same point, saying: "Rather...blest are they who hear the word of God and keep it" (Lk 11:27-28). Jesus also taught: "If anyone comes to Me without turning his back on his father and mother, his wife and his children, his brothers and sisters, indeed his very self, he cannot be My follower" (Lk 14:26).
Jesus calls us to make our baptismal relationships the highest priority. For instance, we should see our wives not only as wives but as baptized sisters in the Lord. Our children are more than just our children. We are united to them through the waters of baptism and the blood of Jesus. Furthermore, we see strangers differently since both of us may have been "baptized into one body" (1 Cor 12:13). Our unity in Jesus' kingship is more important than our kinship. Living out our baptisms in Christian community is the priority which strengthens all our relationships.
Prayer: Father, may my vocation help me to better live out my baptism and vice versa.
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