Daily Reflection for Friday, January 24, 2020
Peace and Blessings, Friends and Parishioners,
We encourage you to reflect on Friday’s readings at this link:
http://usccb.org/bible/readings/012420.cfm
If you prefer to use your own Bible, the readings are:
First Reading: 1 Samuel 24: 3-21
Responsorial: Psalm 57: 2, 3-4, 6 and 11
Gospel: Mark 3: 13-19
Our reflection on Friday’s readings:
“For if a man meets his enemy, does he send him away unharmed? May the LORD reward you generously for what you have done this day.” 1 Samuel 24: 20.
Today’s reading tells how David spared the life of King Saul, even though he knew Saul might try to kill David. David defeated his enemy by making him a friend.
We had a guest in our house last week who has devoted his life to very courageously advocating for peace and human rights. He’s almost 80 now and still an activist. When he was young, he met Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on several occasions.
So it was an honor to have David Hartsough in our house, especially on the birthday of Dr. King. A couple of years ago, David gave me a booklet with three of Rev. King’s writings, including the sermon he delivered on Christmas, 1957 at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. The sermon was titled “Loving Your Enemies”.
In that sermon, Rev. King tells us that we must have the power to forgive and reminds us that “there is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us.” Rev. King preached, “we must not seek to defeat or humiliate the enemy but to win his friendship and understanding.”
The sermon includes the famous King quotation, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Rev. King further preached “that love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. We never get rid of an enemy by meeting hate with hate; we get rid of an enemy by getting rid of enmity”, and he quoted Abraham Lincoln, “do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”
Jesus commanded us: Love your enemies, pray for your persecutors. This will prove that you are sons [and daughters] of your heavenly Father, for his sun rises on the bad and the good, he rains on the just and the unjust" Matthew 5: 44-45.
Lord, teach me to love and to reflect your light.
Peace and blessings,
Al Mytty
(If you are ever in Montgomery, Alabama, visit the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. In the basement, is the study where Dr. King wrote his sermons. It is hallowed ground.)