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The inner word

16 Dec 2012 - Third Sunday of Advent, Cycle C

Though it was near a notable place, Ramah, where one of the matriarchs of Israel, Rachel, had died, “Ephrathah” was, as scripture tells us, virtually “too small” to be noticed. Yet, the prophet Micah says it would be the place of a new king in the line of King David. Have you ever experienced how great things can come from small things? Where can you find something that while starting small grew into something grand with your efforts to cultivate it?

Micah King David

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The inner word

18 Dec 2011 - Fourth Sunday of Advent, Cycle B

In today's first reading, King David learns that honoring God can sometimes mask an attempt to put God in a box. If we substitute honoring for surrendering, it can become a form of idolatry. Do I let my plans for God and God's people get in the way of being open and responsive to God's plans for me? Mary is the model for letting God be God. Though she was confused and didn't understand what was being asked of her, she simply remained open to what God had in store. In what ways am I like David, and what ways am I emulate Mary?

Mary King David submission

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Archaeologist claims to have found King David's citadel

18 May 2014 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The reading from 1 Peter this Sunday encourages disciples to become "living stones," citing a passage from Hebrew scripture that says, "Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion, a cornerstone, chosen and precious." King David laid quite a few stones in fortifying a citadel captured during his conquest of Jerusalem, and now an Israeli archaeologist says he has found the legendary fortification, rekindling a longstanding debate about using the Bible as a field guide to identifying ancient ruins.The claim by Eli Shukron, like many in the field of biblical archaeology, has run into criticism. It joins a string of announcements by Israeli archaeologists saying they have unearthed palaces of the legendary biblical king, who is revered in Jewish religious tradition for establishing Jerusalem as its central holy city—but who has long eluded historians looking for clear-cut evidence of his existence and reign.The present-day Israeli-Palestinian conflict is also wrapped up in the subject. The $10 million excavation, made accessible to tourists last month, took place in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem and was financed by an organization that settles Jews in guarded homes in Arab areas of East Jerusalem in an attempt to prevent the city from being divided. Palestinians claim East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as the capital of a future independent state.Shukron, who excavated at the City of David archaeological site for nearly two decades, says he believes strong evidence supports his theory. "This is the citadel of King David, this is the Citadel of Zion, and this is what King David took from the Jebusites," said Shukron, who said he recently left Israel's Antiquities Authority to work as a lecturer and tour guide. "The whole site we can compare to the Bible perfectly."Shukron's dig, which began in 1995, uncovered a massive fortification of five-ton stones stacked 21 feet wide. Pottery shards helped date the fortification walls to be 3,800 years old. They are the largest walls found in the region from before the time of King Herod, the ambitious builder who expanded the Second Jewish Temple complex in Jerusalem almost 2,100 years ago. The fortification surrounded a water spring and is thought to have protected the ancient city's water source.The citadel was built 800 years before King David would have captured it from its Jebusite rulers and fortified it further. Shukron says the biblical story of David's conquest of Jerusalem provides clues that point to this particular fortification as David's entry point into the city. He says no other structure in the area of ancient Jerusalem matches what David would have captured to take the city. The biblical account names it the "Citadel of David" and the "Citadel of Zion."Ronny Reich, who was Shukron's collaborator at the site until 2008, disagrees with the theory. He said more broken pottery found from the 10th century B.C., presumably during King David's reign, should have been found if the fortification had been in use then. Shukron said he only found two shards that date close to that time. He believes the reason he didn't find more is because the site was in continuous use and old pottery would have been cleared out by David's successors. Much larger quantities of shards found at the site date to about 100 years after King David's reign.Reich said it was not possible to reach definitive conclusions about biblical connections without more direct archaeological evidence. "The connection between archaeology and the Bible has become very, very problematic in recent years," Reich said.Homily hint: Scripture sometimes is, and sometimes is not, a reliable guide to archaeology. What is certain, though, is that each of us must undertake "interior excavations" in order to search our inmost selves and find God's citadel there. Source: An article by Daniel Estrin for the Associated Press

Scripture King David jerusalem archaeology

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Homily themes

24 Jun 2012 - Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, Cycle B

"John was completing his course.” These five seemingly throwaway words, as well as some other passages in the readings for Mass during the day, can trigger the perennial Christian temptation to dismiss the Jews of Jesus’ time as shortsighted and law-bound. Indeed, we hear in Isaiah that it is “too little” for the prophet to “restore the survivors of Israel”; rather, salvation is to go to the ends of the earth. In Acts as well Jesus’ “raising” seems to succeed that of King David, from whose “descendants God . . . has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.” For his part, John the Baptist, a child of priestly families on both sides, gets a name new to his ancestors. To get beyond this incorrect impression of Christianity replacing Judaism is to emphasize two things the readings have to offer today’s Christian: that God knows you completely and has destined you to be an effective instrument of God’s word—a “sharp-edged sword . . . a polished arrow.”

Authors Joel Schorn

john the baptist judaism King David

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Homily themes

18 Dec 2011 - Fourth Sunday of Advent, Cycle B

Nothing will be impossible for God. On this last Sunday before the celebration of Christmas, scripture speaks of the ways God moves beyond limitations. King David, with the prophet Nathan's approval, wants to build God a temple, yet God will not be confined to a building (Acts 7:48 cites this story: "Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands; as the prophet says.") Age-old mysteries are revealed. A virgin conceives. The royal house of David is continued, even surpassed, through a young, poor woman. God becomes a human being, and the door opens for human beings to enter into the life of God, which is eternal life. We can step through this door to the place where faith can move a mountain. Truly nothing is impossible for God. The limits of our mortality make eternity seem very far away. Religion is all about transcendence of mortal limits through the power of God. Christian transcendence is known as "life in Christ," which we participate in now. Mary of Nazareth is the most perfect example of what happens when a human being enters fully into partnership with divine life.

Authors Joel Schorn

King David Incarnation Eternal life

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The inner word

24 Dec 2017 - Fourth Sunday of Advent, Cycle B

Today’s readings invite us to look at where God chooses to dwell. David, in his palace, feels remiss that he has not provided a suitable palace for God, rather than the tattered and worn tent covering the Ark of the Covenant. While his intentions were good, God had some lessons for David about who would establish a house for whom. Mary, too, learns that God chooses unlikely vessels to bring forth God’s life. In what ways do I try to put God in a “box”? A safe and contained place where I know I can always find God? Where does God choose to dwell in my parish or community? In what “house” does God want me to dwell? Do I welcome God into the life I live and into my home? When do I feel most certain God dwells in me? How can I emulate Mary’s response to God?

ark of the covenant King David dwelling place

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Exploring the word

24 Dec 2017 - Fourth Sunday of Advent, Cycle B

If you were going to send a Christmas card to God this year, where would you send it? We know the address of Santa Claus, the queen of England, the pope in Rome, and even a friend or two we haven’t seen since kindergarten. But the whereabouts of God are a little hazier. If we write “heaven” on the envelope, will our Christmas greetings ever reach their destination? The whereabouts of God have always been an issue for those who seek God. Where do you look, if you don’t have a probable place in mind? We may take a pilgrimage to a holy site: God’s been known to make an appearance at a certain mountain peak in Israel. The Son of God moved around from town to town but never settled down—not even in the tomb. The Holy Spirit made a dramatic showing in an upper room in Jerusalem, but subsequent sightings have been across Asia Minor and beyond. If you expand the search to include the Holy Family, reported manifestations of the Mother of God are legion, including Spain, France, Mexico, and, most recently, Japan. The most famous dwelling place of God, of course, was on Mt. Zion in the Jerusalem Temple. One wall is left standing on that ancient site for those willing to seek God in ruins. But most of us look no further than the local church, synagogue, or mosque, where a community still gathers to encounter the divine in word, sacrament, and each other. We take the Easter angel at his word: Do not seek the living among the dead! As far back as the time of David, the desire to house God at a singular address was countered by God’s insistence that it actually works the other way around: The Creator built the house in which creation lives and moves and has its being. God makes a “house” out of David himself, a never-ending house that will shelter generations of kings until the time of the everlasting king. And then one day, 10 long centuries after David is dust, a girl in Nazareth is asked if she would be willing to house the Holy One in her body. And she delivers the fateful yes. It would be a tragedy if hers were the last “yes” in human history! The truth is, many more yeses have been added. The Hebrew word amen means “yes,” and we say it every time we come forward for the Eucharist. We say yes, we’ll be the house of God. We’ll take the divine life into our bodies, in flesh and blood, and make it our flesh and blood. We say, “Let it be done to us, according to your word.” God’s last known address is you. Related scripture links David and his house: Psalm 132; Jer. 33:14-17 God dwells in the people: John 1:14; 1 Peter 2:4-10; Rom. 12:1 Wonder of God: Exod. 15:11; Judg. 5:5; Job 38-40; Psalm 8 Catechism links Nature of God: CCC 205-209; 268-274; 300-304 Human freedom: CCC 1730-1742 Mary’s role: CCC 64; 148-149; 269; 273-274; 328-336; 484-507; 721-726; 2673-2679

Authors Alice Camille

dwelling place King David house of god

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Quotes

02 Dec 2018 - First Sunday of Advent, Cycle C

See, days are coming . . . when I will raise up a righteous branch for David; as king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land. —Jeremiah 23:5 No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There’s too much work to do. –Dorothy Day

righteousness King David dorothy day

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