7th Sunday of Ordinary Time | To Look Again | 02.20.2022 | Fr. Sean Conroy

Our Lady Of Lourdes Podcast

2 Latin Words: Ressentire: To feel something over again—origin of “resentment” https://translate.google.com/?sl=la&tl=en&text=ressentire&op=translate&hl=en Respectare: “To look at something again,” or, “to look back”—origin of “respect” https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/respecto#Latin 1st Reading: 1 Sm 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1samuel/26?2 The Book of Samuel is all about the rise and fall of King Saul and King David—King Saul does not repent, but King David does. Psalm 51: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/51 “Have mercy on me, O God, in your kindness. In your compassion, blot out all my offense.” Psalm 103: 12: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/103 “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our sins from us.” How far is the east from the west? Eternal. Saul has everything going for him as king—handsome, tall, everything a king should be. And, along comes King David. David is the one who sets Israel free from Goliath, and everyone rejoices, because they have been rescued.Resentment grows between David and Saul, because of the envy of David’s success. 1 Samuel 18: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1samuel/18 “When those jealousies grow, and we don’t turn to the Lord, they turn into resentment.”—Fr. Sean Conroy Throughout Samuel, it’s all about Saul’s envy for David, and how he’s going to attack David. Despite the fact that Saul becomes his enemy, David refuses to lay his hand on him because he is the “anointed one by God.” “If you allow your anger your resentment to get the best of you, it’ll kill other people, but David says, ‘No. I will not lay a hand on the anointed one.’”—Fr. Sean Conroy David teaches us to love our enemies. “When people have wronged us, do we just want to seek justice, or do we look at that person again and choose to forgive them? Do we allow resentment to grow? Do we look at that again and again? Or do we say, ‘I choose to still love you; I choose to forgive you.’”—Fr. Sean Conroy “If we have melancholic tendencies, do we surrender that to the Lord and do we look again? To look again, and to forgive.”—Fr. Sean Conroy The Greatest Sermon Christ ever gave: Lk 6:27-38: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022022.cfm “Do unto others as you wish they would do unto you.” “Love your enemies.” “The Gospel is not good advice; it is good news. Good news that we are called to follow.” “Be merciful just as your Heavenly Father is merciful.” This day in age, it’s all about seeking eye for an eye. The Law of Talions. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/talion Jesus says, “Don’t just get justice back. Be merciful.” “Mercy is to pardon injustice.” —Fr. Sean “May we have that same contrite heart [of David] and may we seek to forgive the injustices that others have committed against us. To look again at The Other.”—Fr. Sean ——————— With Lent just around the corner, Fr. Sean encourages us to pray now. “Lord, what are you calling me to give up for Lent? But even more importantly, Lord, what do you want me to do for You, this Lent? How are you calling me to be in a deeper relationship with You? And maybe just one encouragement: the challenge to give up resentment, so to be merciful.” —Fr. Sean Conroy