January 21 has always been a special day for me because it was the birthday of my grandmother, Agnes Thelen, who raised me and who, with her husband, Albert, are the most influential figures in my personal salvation history. Grandma was always proud of her patron saint, Agnes, whose birthday into eternal life we celebrate today.  Her martyrdom is factual, but the details of it have become legendary.  We only know this for sure: at an early age, probably 12, she was beheaded or stabbed because she refused to renounce her faith in Christ.  This lead St. Ambrose to write of her: "The cruelty that did not spare her youth shows all the more clearly the power of faith in finding one so young to bear it witness...she overcame death and found true life."

Ironically, in today's first reading, we find the first Jewish king, Saul, reprimanded by the prophet Samuel for not fully exterminating the Amalekites or  destroying their property.  One wonders how such an order could be according to the will of God, and what kind of God would reject Saul and remove him as king for not destroying the Amalekites to the last person!  It helps to recall that Scripture needs to be interpreted in the light of our faith today. And we can ask these questions: Did God really order  the exterminations?  Are we sure this was the reason Saul was rejected?  Was Samuel correct in thinking that God had ordered this military expedition, Israel's barbarous response to the so-called sin of the Amalekites? So often we humans have taken God's self revelation and colored it with our own violent solutions.  Think of this in light of the retaliations of our own time.

True enlightenment comes from Christ in today's Gospel.  He does not get trapped by comparisons or  theological controversies about fasting. He takes us straight to the heart of the mystery of God's spousal love for us. Recall that even John the Baptist had recognized this about Jesus: "The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man ... rejoices greatly at the bridegrooms's voice.  So this joy of mine has been made complete.  He must increase; I must decrease." (John 3: 29,30)

For our prayer today I know I can do nothing better than to contemplate and savor the words of Jesus and marvel at the wonderful homespun images he uses to speak of the marriage of God with humanity and the new wine of the Kingdom.  My heart will rejoice to hear the words of love spoken by the Bridegroom to me.  And if I cannot think of myself as the Bride, as St. Agnes did so tenderly and passionately, at least I can play the best man!