Prayer: The Source of Courage by Colleen O’Sullivan
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| Michelangelo Buonarroti, David and Goliath, detail from the ceiling of Sistine Chapel, Public Domain |
David spoke to Saul: “Let your majesty not lose courage. I am at your service to go and fight this Philistine.” But Saul answered David, “You cannot go up against this Philistine and fight with him, for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior from his youth.” David continued: “The Lord, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will also keep me safe from the clutches of this Philistine.” Saul answered David, “Go! The Lord will be with you. (1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37)
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| Healing of Man with Withered Hand, 1315-1321, Mosaic, Outer Narthex, Chora Church, Istanbul, Creative Commons License |
Jesus entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a withered hand. They watched Jesus closely to see if he would cure him on the Sabbath so that they might accuse him. He said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up here before us.” Then he said to the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” But they remained silent. Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death. (Mark 3:1-6)
Piety
O Lord, may I always turn to you as my source of strength and courage.
Study
Our Scripture readings today easily could be worked into an essay on courage: what it is, where it originates, and where it leads us. My personal working definition of courage has always been doing the right thing even when you’re scared to death. But as I reflect on today’s readings, that definition doesn’t really seem to dig deep enough, because how do we know what the right thing is and what empowers us to carry it out?
In the first reading, we have the shepherd David offering to go up against the Philistine giant, Goliath. David’s not a crazy or foolhardy young man attempting to show off. He tells Saul exactly why he can make the offer to fight this seasoned warrior. He lives by trusting in God. Up to this point, he’s been a shepherd, but even out in the fields, he’s faced danger from wild animals. God has given him good skills for protecting his flock, which practice has honed. David has always drawn on his close relationship with God to keep him safe. He tells Saul it’s that trust in God that allows him to face off with Goliath.
Courage comes from an intimate, loving relationship with God.
In today’s Gospel reading, we have two more instances where courage comes into play. Jesus calls a man with a withered hand to the front of the synagogue. How many of us have the courage to come forward and let others see our weaknesses and failings? How many of us are quick to answer Jesus’ invitation to open our hands or our hearts and show Jesus the wounds in need of healing? It takes courage, courage born of trust in God’s good intentions toward us.
Again, courage arises from a close, trusting relationship with God.
Jesus, too, shows himself to be a person of great courage. He knows that the Pharisees long to see him dead. Yet his loving relationship with his Father enables him to do the right thing in the synagogue. He restores the man with the withered hand to wholeness. God is a healer and what could be wrong with healing someone on the day dedicated to worshipping the Lord?
Once more, it is Jesus’ extraordinarily close relationship with his Father that enables him to see what’s right and to do it in spite of the Pharisees’ deadly intentions toward him.
Action
Knowing the right thing to do and having the courage to do it stem from our relationship with God. Jesus spent many hours in prayer, out of which he discerned his Father’s desires for him and drew the strength to carry out his Father’s will. If you don’t have a regular prayer life, there is no time like the present to cultivate one.
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