Children of God

Samuel prays to the Lord about the request of the Israelites to be ruled by a king, This is related in the first book of Samuel from the Roman Catholic Lectionary of today. The phrase “children of God” holds a message of intimacy and delight in the relationship between Divine and person. The “children” in today’s text want their way. We have likely experienced our own family making requests of us which we knew were not in their best interest. The response of God is one which parents have also used. The Divine, like human parents is always present to direct even our bad choices to better ends. The Kingdoms of Solomon and David eventually were highlights in the Hebrew story. Mark relates Jesus encounter with the faith of friends of a paralyzed man. Richard Rohr, in the Naked Now, describes faith as knowing not believing. The faith filled friends in the Gospel knew that contact with Jesus would be good for their friend. They acted to make it happen. The Christian Cursillo movement has a tripod guideline for our relationship with the Divine, piety, study and action.