St. Thomas Aquinas, priest & doctor

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

2 Samuel 11:1-4a, 5-10a, 13-17*

In the spring of that year, (…)

David got up from his siesta and took a walk on the roof of the royal house. From the rooftop, he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. David sent to inquire about the woman, and was told, “She is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah, the Hittite.”

So David sent messengers to have her brought to him; and he had intercourse with her just after she had purified herself after her monthly period.

As the woman saw she was with child, she sent word do David, “I am with child.”

David then sent a message to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.”So Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came, David asked him about Joab, how he people wee and how the war was proceeding. Then he told Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.”

Uriah left the palace while the king had a portion from his table sent to him. Uriah, however, did not go down to his house but slept by the door of the king’s palace with all the servants of his lord. David was told that Uriah did not go down to his house.(…)

The next morning, David wrote Joab a letter to be taken by hand by Uriah, in which he said, “Pleace Uriah in the front row where the fighting is very fierce and then withdraw from him so that he may be struck down and die.”

When Joab was attacking the city, he assigned Uriah to a place which he knew was being defended by strong warriors. And the defenders attacked the men of Joab. Some of David’s soldiers and officers were killed; Uriah the Hittite also died.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊   

Mark 4:26-34

 Jesus also said, “In the kingdom of God it is like this. A man scatters seed upon the soil.   Whether he is asleep or awake, be it day or night, the seed sprouts and grows, he knows not how.  

 The soil produces of itself; first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.  And when it is ripe for harvesting they take the sickle for the cutting: the time for harvest has come.”

 Jesus also said, “What is the kingdom of God like? To what shall we compare it?   It is like a mustard seed which, when sown, is the smallest of all the seeds scattered upon the soil.   But once sown, it grows up and becomes the largest of the plants in the gar­den and even grows branches so big that the birds of the air can take shelter in its shade.”

Jesus used many such stories or parables, to proclaim the word to them in a way they would be able to understand.   He would not teach them with­out parables; but privately to his disciples he explained every­thing.

    

Lest We Fall

Sin does not happen overmight; it creeps in incrementally into our spiritual entrails through the little openings we leave unguarded. David’s twin-sins did not happen overnight. He let them in gradually, by compromising commitment to duty.

When his armies were fighting a battle, instead of being bravely present with them, he remained in his cozy palace. While his soldiers were dying, he was enjoying his afternoon siesta, followed by a leisurely walk.

While his men would not even dream of spousal bed, David’s eyes were already committing adultery with a woman….. No wonder his fall was so terrible! We may not and need not know the mysteries of the kingdom and its growth within us-that is God’s work.

But the least we can and must do is to keep the land fertile and well-guarded from inimical forces, so that the kingdom can sprout and produce a good harvest.

 

Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 - 1274; of Aquino, Italy) he took sick and died at the age of 49.

He is one of the great teachers of the medieval Catholic Church,

honored with the titles Doctor of the Church and Angelic Doctor.