04 Feb
Dear OXYGEN reader,
We, the contributors of this daily devotional email have a gift for you this Lent and Easter. We will be providing daily reflections for these two liturgical seasons in advance to those who request for it. If you are interested in receiving them, please leave a comment at this post.
For those who have already requested it, you will receive the first batch of reflections tomorrow.
Peace,
Daniel
on behalf of the OXYGEN team now consisting of
Nicholas Chia, Regina Xie, Aloysius Ting, Gerardine Yee, and Sister Jean-Marie Andrews, FMDM
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2 Samuel 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13
A messenger came to tell David, “The hearts of the men of Israel are now with Absalom.” So David said to all his officers who were with him in Jerusalem, “Let us be off, let us fly, or we shall never escape from Absalom. Leave as quickly as you can in case he mounts a surprise attack and worsts us and puts the city to the sword.”
David then made his way up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, his head covered and his feet bare. And all the people with him had their heads covered and made their way up, weeping as they went.
As David was reaching Bahurim, out came a man of the same clan as Saul’s family. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he came he uttered curse after curse and threw stones at David and at all King David’s officers, though the whole army and all the champions flanked the king right and left. The words of his curse were these, “Be off, be off, man of blood, scoundrel! The Lord has brought on you all the blood of the House of Saul whose sovereignty you have usurped; and the Lord has transferred that same sovereignty to Absalom your son. Now your doom has overtaken you, man of blood that you are.” Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Is this dead dog to curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut his head off.” But the king replied, “What business is it of mine and yours, son of Zeruiah? Let him curse. If the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David’, what right has anyone to say, ‘Why have you done this?’” David said to Abishai and all his officers, “Why, my own son, sprung from my body, is now seeking my life; so now how much the more this Benjaminite? Let him curse on if the Lord has told him so. Perhaps the Lord will look on my misery and repay me with good for his curse today.” So David and his men went on their way.
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Mark 5:1-20
Jesus and his disciples reached the country of the Gerasenes on the other side of the lake, and no sooner had he left the boat than a man with an unclean spirit came out from the tombs towards him. The man lived in the tombs and no one could secure him any more, even with a chain, because he had often been secured with fetters and chains but had snapped the chains and broken the fetters, and no one had the strength to control him. All night and all day, among the tombs and in the mountains, he would howl and gash himself with stones. Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and fell at his feet and shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? Swear by God you will not torture me!” – For Jesus had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit.” “What is your name?” Jesus asked. “My name is legion,” he answered, “for there are many of us.” And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the district. Now there was there on the mountainside a great herd of pigs feeding, and the unclean spirits begged him, “Send us to the pigs, let us go into them.” So he gave them leave. With that, the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the herd of two thousand pigs charged down the cliff into the lake, and there they were drowned. The swineherds ran off and told their story in the town and in the country round about; and the people came to see what had really happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his full senses – the very man who had had the legion in him before – and they were afraid. And those who had witnessed it reported what had happened to the demoniac and what had become of the pigs. Then they began to implore Jesus to leave the neighbourhood. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed begged to be allowed to stay with him. Jesus would not let him but said to him, “Go home to your people and tell them all that the Lord in his mercy has done for you.” So the man went off and proceeded to spread throughout the Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.
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In a book I just read last month titled “Secrets of a Millionaire Mind”, author T. Harv Eker writes that everyone experiences problems. How big a problem appears to a person depends on how big the person is. For example, a Level Two person facing a Level Five problem might see before him a very big problem, but a Level Ten person seeing the same Level Five problem might not even see a problem. It might appear to him an everyday occurrence as common as brushing his teeth.
In the first reading, we see David coming across a guy who was cursing and ranting at him. Is this man a problem for David? Abishai – the guy who was with David when he stood in Saul’s tent and had the opportunity to kill his predecessor – apparently thought so, and asked David for permission to kill the guy – same as with Abishai did with Saul. But to David, the ranting and raving guy was not a problem. David recognised that although the man was cursing him, he wasn’t a big problem for him nor could David really solve the problem, so he just walked away from it and let things be.
Often we like to try and solve problems that are not ours to solve, and sometimes we end up making things worse, or we end up frustrated because we can’t solve the problem. I know I’ve done it many times before, and I guess I’ve got to learn from David to just walk away if it isn’t a big problem, and not try to be a busybody and try to solve a problem that I have the solution to.
In the gospel reading, we see another raving lunatic. The trouble with raving lunatics is that they rant and rave at everyone, and eventually end up in isolation. No one wants to be around the lunatic who raves constantly. The people saw the lunatic as a problem so they cast him out the community and into the hillside where he could rave to himself all he wanted. They didn’t actually solve the problem of the raving guy, but they did with him what David did with his own raving problem – they just ignored it.
Come Jesus into the picture and he doesn’t ignore the problem; he goes on to solve it, because:
1. He has the power to solve it;
2. He knows the root of the problem – an unclean spirit;
3. It is his problem to solve.
So, my friends, before we set out to solve problems, we must be sure that we have the power to solve it, that we know the root cause of the problem, and that it’s our problem to solve. Otherwise, we might just end up making things worse, and end up frustrated. If we are lacking in any of these, then just walk away, and ask the Lord to send someone else to solve the problem.
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Prayer:
Dear Lord, grant us the humility to realize that we can’t solve all the world’s problems by ourselves, and to remember that discretion is the better part of valour. Amen.
Give Thanks to the Lord for: A lesson learnt in humility.
Upcoming Readings:
Tue, 05 Feb – 2 Samuel 18:9-10, 14b, 24-25a, 30 – 19:3; Mark 5:21-43; Memorial for St. Agatha, martyr
Wed, 06 Feb – Joel 2:12-18; 2 Corinthians 5:20 – 6:2; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18; Ash Wednesday
Thu, 07 Feb – Deuteronomy 30: 15-20; Luke 9:22-25; Weekday after Ash Wednesday
Fri, 08 Feb – Isaiah 58:1-9a; Matthew 9:14-15; Friday after Ash Wednesday
Sat, 09 Feb – Isaiah 58:9b-14; Luke 5:27-32; Saturday after Ash Wednesday
Sun, 10 Feb – Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11; First Sunday of Lent
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