Sunday Homily

This week we learn that relationship rifts can become a chasm when left unaddressed. If you have a relationship

that needs work, you can start the healing by saying you’re sorry, “I’m sorry, this relationship is not where I want

it to be. I’m sorry for my miscommunication. I’m sorry for my part of the problem.”  Healthy relationships are

made up of people who are willing to lean into the relationship and repair the rifts.

Today we learn that instead of covering up our sins and failures we admit them. We admit them first to ourselves,

then to God, and then to the appropriate people in our lives. If we are willing to admit mistakes upfront we

can save ourselves from the pain that comes with the cover-up, that comes from lying about it or taking other

measures to hide it from others. We can see that when we admit our failures, it brings peace to our hearts.

Another lesson is to receive those admissions of failure with grace. If we can create environments where people

feel free to admit their failures, we’ll have much healthier families and communities, a healthier country, a

healthier world!

This week we hear about David’s eventual rise to the throne. Although there are hurdles, David succeeds and

takes his rightful place as the anointed king of Israel. David balanced great strength with great worship. Worship

and prayer require vulnerability, humility and effort. The success of David’s kingdom will not be determined by

David’s power nor by his ingenuity or wisdom or eloquence or even his good looks. The kingdom will be built

on David’s trust in the power of God!

Last week we talked about inquiring of the Lord, asking God for His wisdom and counsel. There are some things you don’t need to ask God what his counsel is, because he’s already given it to you. It’s already in his Word, it’s already in the scriptures. So we don’t need to ask God about things that he’s already told us are wrong. See, David knew what was right in this weeks story because he loved God’s law. He loved God’s teaching.

David escapes from the court of King Saul, and his life takes a few twists and turns.  I encourage you to read 1 Samuel so you can read it for yourself, but eventually, we are told in 1 Samuel, "David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam (Ad-dual-am), and when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down to him."

Welcome to the second week of our summer series, David for King. The story of David is one of the most important, detailed, sprawling, cinematic stories in the whole Bible.

“I will bless the Lord who counsels me; even in the night my heart exhorts me. I set the Lord ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.” (Ps 16:7-8)

The half-truth we want to discuss today is one that exists between Christians, and is an important element of our Catholic faith. This half-truth is that Holy Communion is only a symbol.  A symbol represents something.  Holy Communion represents God’s love for us, but it is much more than that.  So if anyone says communion is a symbol, that is true, but it is only half true.

Today we want to confront this half-truth that all religions are the same, deep down.  Now, that is true if you mean that all religions struggle with, and attempt to answer, the same questions.  They struggle with questions such as what is the very foundation of reality.  Does God exist? If God exists, what is God’s nature?  Is there one God or many gods?  If God exists, what does he expect of us?  Does he expect anything of us?  What happens to us after we die?  These and many other questions are questions that various religions attempt to answer.  Religion is a set of beliefs that attempt to explain what life is all about, who we are, and the most important things human beings should spend their time doing.

Welcome to the second week of our message series Half-Truth.  Our culture often has half-truths.  Half-truths are beliefs that are kind of right, but not completely.  Just as if you get it half right when you put the right street address in your GPS, but the wrong town, you arrive at the wrong destination, if we buy into these half-truths of culture, then we wind up at a place we do not want to be.