For many generations, the people of ancient Israel had been led by a
confederation of tribes, but God brought forth leaders in the form of priests
and prophets throughout Israel's history to lead his people. The tribes were supposed to help and protect each other, but often times
they were too weak or too disorganized to be very effective. Many of the books of the Old Testament show the failures that
happened to the people of Ancient Israel because of their lack of true unity.
In our first reading today, the people approach Samuel, wanting a
king for their nation after seeing the other nations around them prosper and
gain military victories through the leadership of kings. However, Samuel responds to the people that they already have a
king, that they simply need to be more faithful to the king that they already
have. But, to the people, having God as their king is not good enough;
they want more, they want what their neighbors have.
Isn't that so much a part of our human nature today as well? Often, what we have isn't good enough for us. So many in our society and in our world today envy the prosperity,
success, and material goods of their neighbors. Samuel tells the people of Israel what it will cost them when they
make things other than God their king. The same is true for us today. The people of Israel refuse to listen to Samuel. And what about us? Are we listening?
We celebrated one of the Desert Fathers earlier in the week – Paul
the Hermit. Today we celebrate the most celebrated of the Desert Fathers –
Anthony of Egypt. Anthony sold his large inheritance at the age of 20 and moved to the
solitude of the desert. The movement of the Desert Fathers that Anthony of Egypt and the
other desert hermits exemplified the way these early Christians felt called to
live out the simplicity and silence of their faith. It reminds all of us how important our prayer life is to our faith,
how we are to search out those quiet moments where we are to find God’s
presence. May we never forget that.
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