January 29,2026 -- Thurday, week 3, ordinary time
2Sam 7, 18-19, 24-29 ; Mk 4, 21-25
H O M I L Y
The first reading at Mass, this week, is taken from the Book of Samuel. A few days ago there was the story of David wanting, in his generosity, to build a house to God, considering that the Tent that the people of Israel had carried through the desert during their exodus was not worthy of God. In yesterday reading God sends the prophet Nathan tell David that He does not need a House. It is HE, God, who will build a house to David.
In that beautiful prophecy, God reminds David that everything he has and everything he is, is a free gift from God. It is God who took the young boy David from the pasture and made him a king. All his victories were God victories. Today’s text is a beautiful prayer of David to God. Very humbly he recognized that he has received everything from God. And he speaks not only in his own name but in the name of the whole people of Israël of whom God has made his house.
That text helps us to understand the Gospel we just read. Jesus wants his disciples to be the lamp of the world. This is our vocation. And a lamp, says Jesus, is not brought to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, but to be placed on a lampstand.
We would be stupid to find in this a source of pride. The light that we are called to show to the world through our Christian and monastic life is not ours. It is God’s own light. He is the Light of the World. Our privilege is to be used to transmit that light. We are instruments in God’s hands.
Let us be humble and obedient instruments.