January 23, 2026 -- Friday of the 2nd Week par
H O M I L Y
In the first reading of today we have the end of the story of King Saul, from the First Book of Samuel. Tomorrow, we will begin the story of king David, with the Second book of Samuel. There is something pathetic about both. Neither of them wanted to be king. Both were chosen by God to lead his people. Both made mistakes and both manifested humility. In fact, the sins of David were much greater than those of Saul, but there was in him a magnanimity, a compassion, that made him dear to God.
Personally I have a great deal of sympathy for Saul. He was the first king of Israel. He had no preparation at all for that job. He had no model to follow, except perhaps the model of the kings of other nations. It seems that he has been excluded by Samuel (or by God, through Samuel) for very little reason. On the other hand, he did not have the great heart of David. He was jealous. As soon as the young David began to have some popularity, Saul begin to be jealous, and wanted to kill him.
In today's reading we have a beautiful manifestation of David's magnanimity, or greatness of soul. For several days Saul has been pursuing David with thousands of men, wanting to kill him. Suddenly, by sheer chance, David finds himself in a situation in which he has in his hand Saul who is alone and in a very vulnerable position! He could easily kill him, and his own men incite him to do so, interpreting that it is God who put Saul in his hands. David continues to consider Saul as the king of Israel, and respects him as his king, although Saul wants to kill him.
The end of the narrative, with the dialogue between David, holding the piece of cloth from Saul's mantel and Saul himself, is very moving. It reveals very well the most positive aspects of both characters. David does not boast:, saying for example: "Look how generous I am". He simply says: "Why do you want to kill me?" "Why do you listen to those who put in your head the idea that I am against you?... the proof that I do not want to harm you is that I could easily have killed you and I did not". We see here the great humility of David. He can be magnanimous because he his humble. That humility will always save him, even when he will commit great crimes, for example when he will have Uriah killed in order to take his wife, with whom he has committed adultery.
But Saul is also, in his own way, a humble man. He did not have David's breath of heart and breath of view. For example, instead of using his energy and his time to lead Israel, he was pursuing David, whom he considered a rival. But when he is confronted with David's goodness, he has the humility to recognize it and to say: You are a better man than I am. He even prays that God will reward David for his goodness. And then he also has the humility and the wisdom to confess: "Now I know you will indeed reign and that the sovereignty in Israel will be secure in your hands".
We have, therefore, in that reading beautiful examples of humility, both by David and by Saul; and in David we have the example of that greatness of heart that put him above any feeling of revenge or of retaliation -- a greatness of heart that made him very dear to God. Let us ask God for the same grace of humility and magnanimity for each one of us.
Armand Veilleux