Spirit leads to enlightenment

 Reflections, which come from the texts in the Roman CatholicLectionary today, lead in many directions. The First book of Samuel tells of the mission of the prophet to respond to the call of God to reject Saul as King of Israel and to go to the sons of Jesse in Bethlehem to anoint David as King. Friar Jude Winkler comments that the text declares that the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David like a hawk. A commentary on the Holy Spirit in the HebrewTestament quotes’ When David was anointed, “the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:13b)’. The Spirit on David is related to the the ruah ’elohim (Spirit of God) which hovered over the waters in Genesis. The historical facts of the monarchy of the united empire ofpeople of Israel of 1000 BCE show the tension between living under the direction of Yahweh or being ruled by kings who had objectives of power and privilege. Barbara Dilly of Creighton University recalls her investigation of the question raised by Jesus when he is criticized by Pharisees and religious authorities for breaking the rules of the Sabbath in the passage today from the Gospel of Mark. The observance of Sabbath as a legal requirement is surprisingly more prevalent in large organized religious groups and the understanding of Sabbath as a gift to liberate us, voiced by Friar Jude, is held by those who seek the guidance of the Spirit to practice “Sabbath for humankind” (Mark 2:27). The “historical fact” that Jesus reference to the priesthood of Abiathar is in error (his father, Ahimelech was priest) shows the tension in apologist writing between evidence of Jesus humanity, for Friar Jude, and the better interpretation of the text by Hank Hanegraaff. The Gospel theme of Sabbath, caring for the planet and attending to the Spirit moved Barbara Dilly to tie the Jesuit REFLECTIONS ON ECOLOGY (1999) into the stream of consciousness which springs from our reflections today.