OBEDIENCE GROWS INTO CONFIDENCE


SAINT AGNES, VIRGIN, MARTYR   

1 Sam 17:32-33,37,40-51; Ps 144:1-2,9-10; Mk 3:1-6

Strength in Faithful Obedience

We usually say that respect is reciprocal. There is also a sense in which obedience is reciprocal, especially when we obey God in all things and abide by his word. God, in a sense, obeys us. As we read in the first book of Samuel, the Lord God never allowed the words of Samuel to fall to the ground. It is because Samuel obeyed God in all things and consecrated himself to doing the will of God. Hence, God did not let his word fall to the ground because Samuel’s words represented the word of God. That is what we become when we live by the word of God and constantly meditate on God and his holy will. As the saying goes, we become what we eat; we gradually become the word of God when we constantly feed on his word. God, who lives in his word, will, through his word we keep in our hearts and minds, make his dwelling in us. Subsequently, the word of God will transform our minds and hearts into those of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God. His Spirit will live in us and inspire us in everything we do and define our state and manner of being. This gradual Chrismation is the goal of the Sacrament of confirmation, which brings us into life in the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

We see a similar transformation in the life of David, who was destined to be the king of Israel after Saul. He was wont to spend his days in the presence of God in the desert with his flock as a shepherd boy. Familiar with God’s presence and protection always with him, he could face Goliath with trust and confidence in God. “The Lord who rescued me from the claws of lion and bear will rescue me from the power of this Philistine.” This was David’s response to Saul when he doubted David's ability to fight Goliath. David’s knowledge of God and his abiding presence were through experience. His quiet life in the wilderness, looking after his father’s flock, afforded him ample time to meditate on the presence of God in creation and in his word, which he must have heard and kept in his mind and loved with his heart. The word of God kept him because he kept the word of God. The confidence with which David met Goliath spoke volumes about his familiarity with God. His reply to Goliath is also replete with this knowledge and confidence in God. “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel that you have dared to insult. Today the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I shall kill you.” Such confidence is developed only through daily experience of God and the power of his word to save us. The number of psalms attributed to David is indicative of his deep contemplation of God and his abiding presence.

The word of God always provides a way for us to encounter and interact with the presence of God; for God is faithful to his word, which is a covenant with his people. The reason why the faithfulness of God is not common knowledge is due to the insincerity of many of us in our relationship with God. Because we find ways to reject the word of God in order to do our will, God leaves us to our own devices. We see this play out in the interaction between Jesus Christ and the Pharisees in the Gospel; Their inability to answer Jesus’ question shows that they have emptied the Law of Sabbath of its real meaning. “Then he said to them, ‘Is it against the law on the sabbath day to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to kill?’ But they said nothing. Then, grieved to find them so obstinate, he looked angrily round at them, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was better.” If we cut corners when it comes to doing the will of God, he will not manifest his steadfast love and faithfulness to his word to us. We must obey God’s word wholeheartedly in all things and offer him our minds and hearts, for him to obey or hear us when we call upon his name. The life of a generous offering of self is what made Saint Agnes a spouse of Jesus Christ. Very little is known of her. What is known is that her martyrdom was widely celebrated in the early Church, and a cult was built around it. She suffered martyrdom at the age of 12 in 304 AD. She was filled with love for God from an early age, vowed herself to celibacy, and took the opportunity of martyrdom when it offered itself. May her prayer help us to give ourselves to God in sincerity of heart.

Let us pray: Almighty ever-living God, who choose what is weak in the world to confound the strong, mercifully grant, that we, who celebrate the heavenly birthday of your Martyr Saint Agnes, may follow her constancy in the faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.                  

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