On the eve of the celebration of the nativity of our Lord, we are confronted with this experience of David. He takes his time to consolidate himself. He tries to build a powerful army. He neutralizes his enemies and constructs a villa for himself. He then thinks about God. And his mind is ‘building a house for God.’ The reaction of God reminds David that even what he thought he was doing was, in fact, the working of God. Is this not sometimes our way of life? Could this not be what we believe when investing to improve our lives?

I wish all that we do could be the work of God. I wish we could not separate our work from the work of God and that our lives would be entirely an investment in God. David forgets that he is a project of God and that his life in the woods with sheep is God at work. That his encounter with Goliath was just a part of a big project. His victories with different enemies was the realization of God. That God accepted his very villa. And above all, he forgot that God was not just a subject of his reign but that he was an object of God and a subject of God.

Finally, let us reflect on David’s thoughts on constructing a house for God. That is an excellent idea. It was a bit presumptuous at the time: putting God in a house. As lovers of Saint Peter Julian Eymard, it is good for us to hail the mind of God in choosing the Blessed Virgin Mary for his house. Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament housed God in her body and life. May this Eucharistic woman teach us more about how to let ourselves be objects of God and his subjects.

Let Us Pray:

On the eve of the birth of your Son, we thank you for reminding us of our frailty and our need to depend entirely on you. We would love to imitate the virgin mother of your Son to abandon ourselves entirely in you. We ask this through Christ our Lord.