Homily for Tuesday
4th Week of Ordinary Time
2 Sam 18: 9-10, 14, 24-25, 30—19: 3
Mark 5: 21-43
Feb. 3, 2026
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence,
N.R.
David Mourns for Absalom
(Gustave Dore')
In
our 1st reading we heard one of the most heart-wrenching stories in the
Bible. It seems to come to us out of
nowhere, partly because we missed the readings for Monday of Week 4 on account
of yesterday’s feastday, and partly because only 2 passages of the whole sad
tale of Absalom make it into the lectionary—a tale that takes up a section of
ch. 12 and almost all of ch. 13-18 of 2 Samuel.
Absalom
has come to battle and defeat because he’s been vengeful, resentful,
ungrateful, proud, and lacking in filial piety.
He’s attempted to overthrow God’s anointed king. So God undoes him, which is part of the
message that the biblical historian intends for us.
We
heard the Cushite messenger’s wish that all the king’s enemies should suffer
Absalom’s fate (18:32). Those who indulge
in Absalom’s vices risk a worse fate from the Lord.
David,
on the other hand, exhibits a spirit of forgiveness and mercy. He anticipates the sentiments that Jesus
shows in the double episode of today’s gospel:
willingness to go out of his way for the welfare of someone in anguish
(Mark 5:24), sensitivity to the touch of a desperate woman (5:30), gentleness
with a child (5:41), and even the practical wisdom of seeing to food for a
youngster (5:43).
David
lost his son. Jairus got his daughter
back. By imitating David’s patience and
Jesus’ compassion, we strive to defeat the vices that might impede our
happiness and we feed our hope that on the Last Day Jesus will take us by the
hand and bid us rise.
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