By Melanie Rigney
Samuel was
displeased when (the elders) asked for a king to judge them. He prayed to the
Lord however, who said in answer: “Grant the people’s every request. It is not
you they reject, they are rejecting me as their king.” (1
Samuel 8:6-7)
“Which
is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise,
pick up your mat and walk’?”
(Mark 2:9)
Piety
Lord, help
me always to remember the power lies with You, not with my sisters and brothers
here on earth.
Study
So who’s in
charge here?
You can
understand the concerns of the elders in today’s first reading. Samuel was
getting old. His sons weren’t regarded as fit to lead and, in the elders’ view,
what the land really needed was a king. They didn’t understand God had the
judging and the ruling well in hand. But God was willing to step out of the way
if that was what the people truly thought they wanted.
Hundreds of
years later, around 250 AD, the man who would become St. Anthony the abbot was
born near Cairo. He would live more than a hundred years, rejecting his
parents’ wealth in favor of a simple, austere life, including two stints of
more than a dozen years each as a hermit. He’s regarded as having founded
monasticism as we know it by agreeing to help a community of hermits. He would
serve as the group’s abbot for more than forty years.
It was
during that time that Anthony’s reputation for wisdom grew to the point that
the Emperor Constantine wrote to ask for guidance in transitioning his empire
from paganism to Christianity. Some others in the community were impressed: to
think the emperor had written a monk for
advice.
According
to his biographer, Anthony brushed off this awe with these words: “Do not be
astonished if an emperor writes to us, for he is a man. But rather: wonder that
God wrote the Law for men, and has spoken to us through his own Son.”
Hundreds of
years later, we focus on handicapping presidential primaries that are still two
years away and fret about those who lead, or attempt to lead, our country,
states, counties, and cities today. Samuel and Anthony both remind us that our
fealty lies with a greater king who doesn’t run for election and isn’t
term-limited, a king whom we didn’t select for the job but is perfectly suited
for it and who loves us and guides us always. We are blessed when we remember
who is truly in charge.
Action
We aren’t
required to be apolitical (which is a good thing in this town), but we do need
to always remember where the power, “political” or otherwise, begins and to
prayerfully ask God for direction. Consider attending or supporting in some way
the March for Life January 22 in Washington or the events leading up to it. Or,
attend the Mass in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. on January 19 at St.
Joseph’s in Alexandria, celebrated by Bishop Loverde. Or, join Catholic,
Lutheran, Anglican, and United Methodist bishops on January 20 in a prayer for
Christian unity at St. Ann’s in Arlington.
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