The Greatness of King David, Saint Peter, and Mary Magdalene – Fourth Sunday of Lent Year A

1 Samuel 16:1B, 6-7, 10-13A; Psalm 23’ Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41

         The first reading describes God, through the prophet Samuel, choosing David to be the second King of Israel. As a king, David did many great deeds, including defeating Israel’s enemies and establishing peace in his kingdom. It has been pointed out, though, that the greatest deed David did was repenting before God after his terrible sin was revealed to him through the prophet Nathan. (2 Samuel 12:7-14)

         When David repented and when we repent, we gain and, at times, regain the ability to spiritually see since sin causes us to be spiritually blind to our evil ways that we often quickly explain away and ignore. Sin also causes us to be spiritually blind to the way, who is Jesus, which will lead us to true, deep, lasting happiness and peace. May we heed the words of Saint Paul, who, in today’s Second Reading, writes, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” In the Gospel passage, Jesus identifies himself as “the light of the world”.

          Like King David, like Saint Peter, who betrayed Jesus, and Saint Mary Magdalene, who once was possessed by seven demons, (Luke 8:2) every time we fall and fail to love God and love our brothers and sisters may we not become discouraged but recognize each time we fail as an opportunity to draw closer to Jesus and rely more on Jesus and less on ourselves. I recently read a passage in Divine Intimacywritten by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen:

St. Therese of the Child Jesus teaches, that “what offends Jesus, what wounds his heart, is want of trust” (Let 71). A lack of trust in God’s mercy, even after serious falls, is never an indication of true humility, but rather of insidious pride and diabolical temptation. Had Judas been humble, instead of giving way to despair, he would have known, like Peter, how to beg forgiveness and to bewail his sins. … When, after so many good resolutions, a soul find itself continuing to fall into the same faults, and after many more attempts still does not succeed in overcoming certain defects, it should humble itself, rather than be angry with itself.^[1]

         King David, Saint Peter, and Saint Mary Magdalene all have something in common. They all committed very serious sins that deeply offended God and hurt their neighbors, but instead of turning away from God and, in pride, hating themselves, King David, Saint Peter, and Saint Mary Magdalene turned to Jesus and were forgiven.^[2]

         Lord Jesus, when we become aware that we have sinned, grant us the grace to immediately turn to you for help, healing, and sanctification, so that we also, like King David, Saint Peter, and Saint Mary Magdalene can become truly great not for the great deeds we have done but rather for our repentance and trust in your infinite love and mercy.

May God Bless You All – Father Peter

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^[1] Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, Divine Intimacy, Volume II, 56-57.

^[2] An interesting take on Jesus’ correction of Simon Peter by commanding, “Get behind me, Satan!” is that Jesus was not commanding Peter to get behind him, but Satan, who had possessed Peter. According to this interpretation, by commanding Satan to leave Peter, Jesus exorcised Peter of Satan. The words “Get behind me, Satan! Vade retro Satana!” are a common command exorcists issue to demons and are also part of the exorcism prayer on the back of Saint Benedict Medals, in the form of an acronym.  In commenting on this interpretation, Msgr. Rossetti states that if this is the case, then this “would mean that Jesus intentionally picked a possessed person to be one of His closest disciples. It is hard to believe. But I remind myself that one of Jesus’ closest followers was Mary of Magdala, out of whom He cast seven demons.” Stephen J. Rossetti, Diary of an American Exorcist (Manchester: Sophia Press, 2021), 79.