'Let HIM Enter, The King Of Glory!'

"Lift up, O gateways, your lintels,

open up, you ancient doors,

that the King of glory may enter!

Who is the King of glory?

YAHWEH, the strong, the mighty,

YAHWEH, valiant in battle.

Lift up your lintels, O gateways,

open up, you ancient doors,

that the King of glory may enter!

Who is the King of glory?

YAHWEH of Hosts,

HE is the King of glory!"

- Psalm 24:7-10

(This psalm shares the astonishment of Solomon: 'Will GOD really live with men and women on the earth?'  For us that wonder is surpassed.  We have seen the Son of GOD pass through the gate of our nature and heard HIM speak 'of the temple of HIS body' [John 2:21].  And this not all!  Mystically assumed into that body, our own selves become temples too--but we must throw open the gates of a generous heart: 'If anyone loves ME, MY FATHER will love him; and we will come to HIM' [John 14:23].  We think of this as we sing: 'Let HIM enter, the King of Glory!' 'Come, LORD JESUS' [Revelation 22:20].)

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The Magnificent Promises Of GOD

"In the past, you spoke in a vision; YOU said of YOUR faithful servant:

'I have set the crown upon a mighty one; on one chosen from the people.

I have found David MY servant, and, with MY holy oil, I have anointed him.

My hand will be ever with him; and MY arm will sustain him; no enemy shall outwit him, nor the wicked oppress him.

I will crush his foes before him and strike down his adversaries.

My faithfulness and love will be with him; and, by MY help, he will be strong.

I will set his hand over the sea, his right hand over the rivers.'"

- Psalm 89:20-26

(There is no doubt about GOD's power and all kingship comes from HIM.  There is no doubt about GOD's promises either so whatever has happened, cannot be final.  The psalmist was right: 'You shall name HIM JESUS... and the LORD will give HIM the throne of HIS father David... and of HIS kingdom there will be no end' [Luke 1:31ff].)

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The People Who Walked In Darkness Have Seen A Great Light

"The people who walked in darkness

have seen a great light.

A light has dawned

on those who live in the land of the shadow of death.

YOU have enlarged the nation;

YOU have increased their joy.

They rejoice before YOU,

as people rejoice at harvest time

as they rejoice in dividing the spoil.

For the yoke of their burden,

the bar across their shoulders,

the rod of their oppressors,

YOU have broken it as on the day of Midian."

- Isaiah 9:1-3

(This poem may have been composed in the year 732 B.C. when the king of Assyria destroyed Israel, kindred and enemies at the same time.  According to their custom, the Assyrians took many of the people to the other end of the empire.  They resided in the territory  of Zebulun and Naphtali [see Isaiah 8:23] which, centuries later, would become Galilee.  Dispersed among the pagans, they were coming out of sacred history to enter into darkness.

The liberation promised to them is presented as a crushing victory of the LORD, inaugurating a reign of peace, related to Emmanuel.

The people who walked in darkness...  The Gospel [Matthew 4:16] sees in that people the crowds whom JESUS addresses:

- a people dominated by every kind of oppressors;

- a people seeking light and without hope.)

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Proclaim The Good News To All Creation

"Then HE told them, 'Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation.  The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; the one who refuses to believe will be condemned.  Signs like these will accompany those who have believed: in MY name they will cast out demons and speak new languages; they will pick up snakes, and if they drink anything poisonous, they will be unharmed; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.'" - Mark 16:15-18 

(Proclaim the Good News to all creation.  The Good News is the seed that will be planted in the world and will flourish, in its proper time, in every field of human endeavor.  Salvation is not a matter of saving isolated souls or individual beings.  The Gospel is to be proclaimed to all creation in all activities and acts of those who have been renewed by baptism.  They are to be the yeast that transforms human history.

The one who refuses to believe will be condemned.  There seems to be a threat and its erroneous interpretation was going to have countless consequences.  Even if, in the past, we have read into this a condemnation to hell, this is not the meaning of the text.)

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From The Wicked Comes Wickedness

"So Saul took three thousand picked men from all Israel and went in search of David and his men to the east of the Wild Goat crags.  When he came to the sheepfolds along the way, he entered a cave to relieve himself.

Now David and his men were far back in the cave.  David's men said to him, 'This is the day which YAHWEH spoke of: 'Look I will deliver your enemy into your hands and you will do with him as you see fit.'  So David moved up and stealthily cut off an end of Saul's robe.  But afterward, David regretted having cut off an end of Saul's robe, and he said to his men, 'Let me not lay my hands on my master, for he is YAHWEH's anointed.'  With these words, David restrained his men and did not allow them to attack Saul.  Saul then left the cave and went on his way.

Then David himself stepped out of the cave and called after Saul, 'My master, the king!'  When Saul looked back, David knelt and then bowed to the ground in homage and asked him, 'Why do you listen to those who say that I want to harm you?  Look, today you have seen that YAHWEH delivered you into my hands in the cave.  I was told to kill you but I held myself back and said: 'I will not lift my hands against my master who is YAHWEH's anointed.  My father, look at this end of your robe which I am holding!  I cut off the end of your robe but did not kill you.  Now you may know that I mean you no harm or treason.  I have done you no wrong and yet you are hunting me down to kill me.  May YAHWEH be judge between you and me; and may he exact justice from you in my case.  But I shall do you no harm.

As the saying goes, 'From the wicked comes wickedness'; as for me, my hand shall not harm you.  But who is it you are after, O king of Israel?  Are you pursuing a dead dog?  A flea?  May YAHWEH be judge between you and me.  May he see and uphold my cause and deliver me from your hands.'

After David had spoken these words, Saul asked, 'Is that your voice, my son David?'  He wept aloud and said to David, 'You are right and I am wrong, for you have repaid with kindness the harm I have inflicted on you.  This day you have shown your righteousness to me by not taking my life when YAHWEH put me into your hands.  For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go unharmed?  May YAHWEH reward you for what you have done for me today.  Now I know for certain that you shall reign and the kingdom of Israel will be firm in your hand." - 1 Samuel 24:3-21 

(David's respect for "the anointed one" of the LORD [since Saul had been anointed by Samuel], gives evidence of his faith.

Persons instructed in the Scriptures know that leaders share with GOD duties and power which exceed the capabilities and the rights of a human being.  Though we should replace evil or ineffective leaders, we must respect their person and the fearful responsibility GOD has delivered into their hands [Romans 13:1].

GOD will do me justice.  This is not the grudging complaint of someone who did not even try to defend himself but the certainty of one who fights for what seems to him to be just, but recognizes that GOD alone is the master of history.  In particular case, he renounces his rights as a way of showing his full confidence in GOD.  This is what JESUS says in Matthew 5:38-42.)

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Unshakable Confidence In GOD

"O GOD, show YOUR mercy to me, for my foes are in hot pursuit; they press their attack on me all the time.
My accusers pursue me all day long; many attack me. But when I am afraid, O Mighty One, I put my trust in YOU;
In GOD, whose word I praise; in GOD I trust, without fear.  What can mortals do against me?
All day long they hatch their evil plans, potting mischief to injure my cause.
They conspire, and lurk around, watching my every move; bent upon taking my life.
They must not be allowed to go unpunished; therefore, O GOD, in YOUR fury, bring the nations down.
YOU have a record of my laments; my tears are stored in YOUR wineskin.  Are they not written on YOUR scroll?
My enemies turn back when I call on YOU for help; now I know, that GOD is for me.
In GOD, whose word I praise; in GOD I trust, without fear.  What can mortals do against me?
I am bound to you by vows, O GOD; I shall offer my thanksgiving.
For YOU have rescued my soul from death and my feet from stumbling; that I might walk in GOD'S presence, in the light of the living." - Psalm 56:2-14

('YOU have a record of my laments.'  The sentence is more graphic in Hebrew: 'My tears are stored in YOUR wineskin?' This is what professional mourners did.  The tears were shed, as it were, by proxy, and left at the grave, as evidence of grief.  But here the tears are not professional, GOD knows it, and they are really worth keeping.  We can only know what GOD thinks of human suffering from HIS Son, GOD's Word to us.  When JESUS saw Martha weeping HE started to cry HIMSELF [John 11:33-34].  But in the end, GOD 'will wipe all the tears away' and there will be no more crying [Revelation 21:4].

It is good to pray with this psalm, on the face of so much suffering and so many tears that don't find a human answer.

This is a prayer of the millions of oppressed who live, and no doubt will die crushed.  'YOU, LORD, have gathered our tears!')

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Not To Do Good Is To Do Evil, Not To Cure Is To Kill

"Again, JESUS entered the synagogue.  A man, who had a paralyzed hand, was there; and some people watched JESUS: would HE heal the man on the Sabbath?  If HE did, they could accuse HIM.

JESUS said to the man with the paralyzed hand, 'Stand here, in the center.'  Then HE asked them, 'What does the law allow us to do on the Sabbath?  To do good or to do harm?  To save life or to kill?'  But they were silent.

Then JESUS looked around at them with anger and deep sadness at their hardness of heart.  And HE said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.'  He stretched it out, and his hand was healed.  As soon as the Pharisees left, they met with Herod's supporters, looking for a way to destroy JESUS." - Mark 3:1-6 

(Here, what Mark wants to emphasize is not the miracle JESUS performs, but HIS attitude vis-a-vis the Sabbath.  This miracle confirms what HE has just said in 2:28.

The Pharisees considered it lawful to work on the Sabbath if it was a question of saving someone in danger of death.  JESUS is about to enlarge this ruling: for HIM, not to do good is to do evil, not to cure is to kill.)

Some ask if JESUS was interested in the material advancement [well-being] of people or only in their spiritual progress.  Actually, it is impossible to separate one from the other.

JESUS, apparently, did not speak of the economy nor the social order, but HE did denounce our prejudices that prevent us from giving the world a true and just order.

People, then, have the capacity and the means to better their condition, but they use them poorly because they remain prisoners of principles or institutions that are considered sacred, and in order to preserve them they allow half the world to die.)

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The Son Of Man Is Master Even Of The Sabbath

"One Sabbath HE was walking through grain fields.  As HIS disciples walked along with HIM, they began to pick the heads of grain and crush them in their hands.  Then the Pharisees said to JESUS, 'Look!  They are doing what is forbidden on the Sabbath!'

And HE said to them, 'Have you never read what David did in his time of need; when he and his men were very hungry?  He went into the House of GOD, when Abiathar was High Priest, and ate; the bread of offering, which only the priests are allowed to eat, and he also gave some to the men who were with him.'  Then JESUS said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  So the Son of Man is master even of the Sabbath.'" - Mark 2:23-28 

(It was normal that passersby, when hungry, would pick fruit or wheat.  The Pharisees were scandalized because JESUS' disciples did this on the Sabbath, a day when all work was prohibited.

The Sabbath was made for man.  No law, no matter how holy it is, should be applied in a way that would oppress a person.

The Son of Man is master even of the Sabbath.  For the Jews, the observance of the Sabbath was the pillar of the Law established by GOD.  Who did JESUS think HE was?)

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New Wine, New Skin

"One day, when the Pharisees and the disciples of John the Baptist were fasting, some people asked JESUS, 'Why is it, that both the Pharisees and the disciples of John fast, but yours do not?'  JESUS answered, 'How can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.  But the day will come, when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.

No one sews a piece of new cloth on an old coat, because the new patch will shrink and tear away from the old cloth, making a worse tear.  And no one puts new wine into old wine skins, for the wine would burst the skins, and then both the wine and the skins would be lost.  But new wine, new skins!'" - Mark 2:18-22 

(Many religious leaders sympathized with JESUS.  How they would have liked that HE rekindle the faith of the nation!  JESUS HIMSELF did not feel that HIS primary task was to reorganize worship and bring people to the synagogues.

The Pharisees were fasting.  Fasting, a sign of repentance, supported their prayers that GOD come and liberate HIS people.  GOD comes in the person of JESUS: joy and celebration are more appropriate than fasting.  The prophets had announced the wedding feast of GOD with HIS people when HE would come to visit us [Isaiah 62:4-5].  Because of this, in presenting HIMSELF as the bridegroom, JESUS identifies who HE really is.

What is the new wine?  It is of course the Gospel, and the enthusiasm because of the Holy Spirit that leads the disciples to every kind of madness to manifest the love of the FATHER and the freedom that they have acquired.  In order to understand this, let us read the Acts of the Apostles and the lives of the saints, who have marked Church history.

Old skins:  The Gospel does not fit into the molds of religion and likewise does not enter into those persons who hold onto them at all costs.  Mark wants us to catch the Gospel's novelty.  We have just seen JESUS welcoming sinners, now we wonder that HE doesn't come like religious groups with prayers and fasting.) 

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Earth Rejoices In Its King

"YAHWEH reigns; let the earth rejoice;

let the distant islands be glad.

Clouds and darkness surround HIM;

justice and right, are HIS throne.

Fire goes before HIM,

burning HIS foes on every side.

HIS lightning lights up the world;

the earth watches and trembles.

The mountains melt like wax

before YAHWEH, the LORD of all the earth.

The heavens proclaim HIS justice,

all peoples see HIS glory."

- Psalm 97:1-6

(The glory, the magnificence, the splendor of GOD--this could strike us with terror so that we might cry out like St. Peter, 'Depart from us!'  But that glory is our light; we are even called to share that glory.  So for us, the majesty of GOD is not an object of terror, but a subject of exultation.)

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