Seek the good of all, not personal advantage

Treasures of Our Faith with Deacon Richard Vehige

On Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time, our church invites us to continue to reflect on passages from the second book of Samuel (15: 7-14, 24-30: 16: 5-13) is entitled “The rebellion of Absalom and David’s flight”. Our treasure, which follows, is from a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement, pope.

The books of Samuel describe the rise and development of kingship in Israel. Samuel is a pivotal figure. He bridges the gap between the period of the Judges and the monarchy, and guides Israel’s transition to kingship.

Each section of these books focuses on a major figure in the development of the monarchy: Samuel, the reluctant king maker (1 Sm 1–12); Saul, the king whom the Lord rejects (1 Sm 13–31); David, the king after the Lord’s own heart (2 Sm 1–24). A common theme unites these narratives: Israel’s God acts justly, prospering those who remain faithful and destroying those who reject his ways (1 Sm 2:9). Along with the rest of the Deuteronomistic History, the Books of Samuel become an object lesson for biblical Israel as it tries to re-establish its religious identity after the destruction of Jerusalem and the loss of its homeland (587/586 B.C.).

Clement of Rome was the third successor of Saint Peter, reigning as pope from 88 AD until his death in 99 AD. He's known as one of the Church's five “Apostolic Fathers,” those who provided a direct link between the Apostles and later generations of Church Fathers. His letter to the church at Corinth is in response to a dispute in which certain presbyters of the Corinthian church had been deposed. He asserted the authority of the presbyters as rulers of the Corinthian church on the ground that the Apostles had appointed such.