Day 113: Broken Trust

1 Samuel 21:1-15 The priests of Nob gave David the “bread of the presence”; this bread, which was to be consumed only by priests, was kept in the sanctuary and was replaced weekly with fresh bread. Christ would refer to this story when he defended his disciples for plucking and eating grain on the Sabbath (cf. Mt 12:3-4). (CCC 2581)

Psalm 52 This psalm builds on Psalm 50 and 51 and conveys a contrasting message to Psalm 51. Its first five verses address a wicked man by telling him of the punishments that lay ahead of him on account of his sins; among his transgressions is his love of money (avarice), about which Psalm 49 warns, but special attention is given to sins of the tongue such as lying. The righteous, on the other hand, can look forward to spending eternity in the house of God. Here the psalmist is likely referring to living near the Temple in Jerusalem, whereas for Christians these words clearly point to eternal life in Heaven, the New Jerusalem, and the eternal Temple, which is Christ. (CCC 2482-2486, 2534, 2536, 2541, 2552)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• 1 Samuel 21-22: Doeg the Edomite would have one of those curly mustaches and a monocle and a laugh like Gargamel 😉

• He did whatever he had to to get ahead

• He is the BETRAYER

• Not only does he bust Ahimelech but also when the king's men say they won’t strike down the priests, Doeg says he will do it

• He does this evil evil thing, killing the priests

• We recognize David’s response to this in Psalm 52

• “Yes, Lord. Let there be justice upon this man who betrayed me and who not only betrayed me, but betrayed the Lord, not only betrayed the Lord, but also betrayed the priests of the Lord and struck them down. Even though people around me betray me, I am going to walk as righteously as I can. Even when the people around me are false, I want to be as true and as honest as I possibly can be.”

• THIS IS OUR CALL

• The world is ALWAYS one where there is TREACHERY

• The world is ALWAYS one where there is BETRAYAL

• In Dante’s Inferno, the deepest circle of Hell is where Lucifer is encased in ice

• The deeper you go into Hell, the worse the sin is

• What would be the DEEPEST circle of Hell?

• Oh that’s easy….AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas!!! 🤪

• Seriously though, Dante puts those who BETRAY in the DARKEST and DEEPEST circle of Hell

• Those who were TRUSTED by someone else and they BETRAYED that trust

• People who betrayed their country

• People who betrayed their vows

• People who betrayed God

• People who had PROMISED to love and they BETRAYED that love

• Judas is in that circle of Hell next to Lucifer (IN DANTE’S INFERNO....this is not DOCTRINE OK? The Catholic Church has NEVER condemned ANYONE to Hell in case you were wondering...but my guess is that yeah, Judas is in Hell)

• Here is someone like Doeg who we don’t necessarily know if he had a connection with David

• David knew who Doeg was because he recognized him at the Temple of the Lord

• We also recognize here is what it is to BETRAY

• Someone trusted me and I was able to hurt them more deeply because of their trust

• That’s why betrayal is SO DEEP AND SO DARK

• We need to pray that we do not ourselves become BETRAYERS

• We also need to pray that we HEAL FROM BETRAYAL

• Every one of us has been hurt by trusting someone and then learning later that they weren’t worthy of our trust or they betrayed our trust

• When it comes to Ch 21 David and the HOLY BREAD

• WHAT A GIFT!

• Remember the layout of the Temple?

• The Ark of the Covenant was kept in the Holy of Holies

• But before that is the Holy Place

• Three objects are in the Holy Place

• The Altar of Incense

• The Menorah

• The Bread of the Presence

• The Bread of the Presence was not only a sign of God’s provision for the people of Israel as He fed them through their desert wanderings

• The Bread of the Presence was also a sign of GOD’S LOVE

• When Solomon builds the Temple in Jerusalem and the people came up for the HIGH HOLY FEASTS (POP QUIZ!! What were the HIGH HOLY FEASTS that all Jews were required to worship at the Temple for? Answer in the Comment Section of the Facebook Post 😁)

• The final blessing that was given to the people was when the priest went into the Holy Place and came out with the Bread of the Presence 

• The priest would LIFT UP the Bread of the Presence and he would say to the people, “BEHOLD, THE LOVE OF GOD FOR YOU”

• This is what happens at EVERY. SINGLE. MASS.

• The priest holds up the TRUE PRESENCE OF JESUS CHRIST in the Eucharist and says, “BEHOLD, THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD. BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ARE CALLED TO THE SUPPER OF THE LAMB.”

• The priest is basically saying, “BEHOLD THE LOVE OF GOD FOR YOU. THIS IS JESUS CHRIST, CRUCIFIED AND RISEN AND ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN. THIS IS TRULY HIM.”

• What an INCREDIBLE GIFT

• David gets to eat the Bread of the Presence so that he and his men can continue their flight from King Saul who is unjustly pursuing David and seeking to kill him

• YOU are being pursued RIGHT NOW BY THE LORD

• GOD LOVES YOU

• GOD DESIRES TO MAKE YOUR HEART HIS OWN

• KEEP PRAYING FOR EACH OTHER

• Sometimes, it’s hard when we’ve been betrayed and we feel we don’t know who we can trust

• GUESS WHAT?

• WE CAN ALWAYS TRUST THE FATHER

• WE CAN ALWAYS TRUST THE SON

• WE CAN ALWAYS TRUST THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

• Pray that we can be men and women WHO TRUST IN GOD

• PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise today. And we know what it is like to be betrayed. We know what it is to be lied about. We know what it is to lose faith in others when they have turned their backs on us. We know what it is to be hurt by having trusted others, having given our hearts to them, and having those hearts be betrayed. And so we recognize in David’s prayer, in this Psalm 52, we recognize our own experience. We recognize our own hearts. We recognize what it is to be abandoned, to have had friends and then to have those friends turn on us. And so we pray for each other, especially those betrayed hearts, especially those who find themselves wounded by those they thought they could trust. Lord God, we pray for all of our friends right now, who have been wounded by friends, all those people who are joining us in this community who have been wounded by those they believed they could trust. And we ask for their strength, for grace, and for mercy to be in their hearts. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”