Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
February 1, 2022
Daily Reading from the USCCB: 2 Samuel 18:9-10, 14b, 24-25a, 30-19:3
Absolom’s revolt fails and Absolom loses his life. David is overwhelmed with sorrow at his son’s death to the point of wishing that he himself had been killed rather than his son.
David’s love for his son is greater than his relief at being delivered from the hand of rebels, and what should have been a cause for rejoicing became instead an occasion for mourning. David here shows himself once more a man of passion–a man for whom love was more important than survival.
We too, are called to love those who have done us wrong, perhaps not in the dimensions that David dealt with in the case of Absolom and his rebellion, but in demanding dimensions nonetheless. Interpersonal relations are seldom simple.
