2 Sm 1:1-4a, 5-10a, 13-17 Ps 51:3-4, 5-6a, 6bcd-7, 10-11 Mk 4:26-34

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer The Daily Reflections

In today’s first reading we see one of the Bible’s strongest examples of sin. Not only did David lust after another man’s wife, but he acted upon that lust by using his power as king to sleep with her. When he found out that Bathsheba was pregnant, instead of admitting his mistake and asking for forgiveness, he tried to cover up his deed by coercively trying to get Uriah to sleep with his wife. When his cover-up did not work, he resorted to the gravest of his sins: murder.

The aspect of this story that makes it more than just a tale of a sinful man is that this same sinful man is now seen as one of the Old Testament’s greatest Church leaders. Not only did he lead God’s people on Earth, but God chose to send his Son as a member of David’s lineage.

This is also one of the very few times in our readings when the subject of the first reading actually wrote the Psalm for that day. This fantastic opportunity allows us to see what happens after David’s sin streak to put him in the high and holy position that we know he attained later in life. “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned,” is a great example of the seemingly endless number of Psalms dedicated to the sorrow of sin. It is obvious that David learned his lesson and, more importantly, learned the joys of God’s forgiveness.

On a smaller scale, I can relate to how David must have felt. When I catch myself in a sinful slide or realize that I have not been treating others with the respect I should, I feel a sense of overwhelming guilt. This remorse is good to a certain point. It is beneficial in the sense that it leads me back to God and usually to Reconciliation. However, it is detrimental if I continue to dwell on my sin, which prevents me from growing through and remedying my mistakes. We see David make the step past this never-ending guilt throughout a good portion of Psalms where he is rejoicing in God’s forgiveness.

Today’s Gospel helps us realize that we only need faith the size of a mustard seed to undergo a David-like transformation of our own. The advantage that we now have over David is that Jesus brought us the beautiful Sacrament of Reconciliation. Through the celebration of this Sacrament we can undergo the same transformation that David did and see the Psalms of our lives go from sorrow to celebration