Mercy: Power, Refuge, and Mission

In today’s Scriptures, a king hides in a cave and a future king refuses to take advantage. A psalmist takes shelter under God’s wings. Christ calls ordinary people by name and entrusts them with extraordinary authority. Threaded through it all is one radiant theme: mercy that restrains, reconciles, and then sends.

Mercy in the Cave: Power Held Back

David has the perfect chance to end Saul’s pursuit and seize the throne. Instead, he restrains his hand, honors God’s anointing, and entrusts judgment to the Lord. The restraint itself is the miracle. Mercy isn’t weakness; it is power that refuses to become violent or vindictive. It is the moral strength to let God be God.

In a culture that rewards clap-backs, pile-ons, and the strategic “gotcha,” David’s choice challenges our reflex to win at any cost. He doesn’t deny the danger he’s in; he simply refuses to become the danger. He even holds up the piece of Saul’s cloak to “show” rather than “strike”; bearing witness to truth without bloodshed. Here is a template for courageous, nonviolent integrity: tell the truth, set boundaries, and entrust ultimate justice to God.

Refuge Before Response

Psalm 57 echoes David’s stance: “In the shadow of your wings I take refuge, till harm pass by.” The psalm teaches the discipline of holy delay; the prayerful pause before reaction. Seeking refuge in God does not mean passivity; it means re-centering, letting God’s mercy and faithfulness steady our mind before we make consequential choices.

In seasons of stress; strained marriages, hostile workplaces, fragile friendships, or the unrelenting noise of social media; refuge precedes response. It is how our hearts are shielded from becoming what we oppose.

Reconciliation: God’s Work, Our Mission

The Alleluia verse proclaims that God reconciled the world to Himself in Christ and entrusted to us the message of reconciliation. Reconciliation is not niceness; it is the cross-shaped work of truth, mercy, repentance, and repair. It requires clarity about harm done and hope that grace can break cycles of retaliation.

David models this paradox: he refuses to harm Saul, appeals to God’s justice, and names the wrong he has suffered. That is a reconciling stance; neither denial nor vengeance. In our own relationships, reconciliation may look like a hard conversation that avoids both cruelty and avoidance; an apology that is specific; restitution where possible; and new boundaries that protect dignity on both sides.

Called First to Be With Him, Then Sent

In the Gospel, Jesus calls the Twelve “that they might be with him and that he might send them.” Presence precedes mission. We are not first producers, fixers, or performers; we are first companions of Christ. Only then are we sent to preach and to confront the powers that dehumanize.

Notice the names; fishermen, a tax collector, zealots, the “sons of thunder,” and even the one who will betray Him. The Church is born from a messy table. Our eligibility for discipleship is not our perfection but our willingness to stay with Jesus, let Him convert our zeal into charity, and then go where He sends. Authority over demons today includes confronting the spirits of contempt, despair, addiction, deception, and division; beginning in our own hearts and extending into our families, workplaces, and civic life.

Mercy That Makes Kings

Saul weeps when he recognizes David’s mercy, and he all but prophesies David’s kingship. In God’s economy, mercy is the path to true authority. The crown belongs to those who can hold power without harming, lead without humiliating, and correct without crushing. Jesus will accomplish this perfectly on the cross; refusing retaliation while speaking truth and entrusting judgment to the Father.

Witnesses Along the Way: Marianne Cope and Vincent the Deacon

Today the Church in the United States honors, as optional memorials, two luminous witnesses.

• Saint Marianne Cope, a Franciscan who left comfort to serve persons with Hansen’s disease in Hawaii, shows what refuge looks like in action. She made spaces of safety and dignity where society saw only stigma. Her mercy did not erase suffering; it transfigured it with patient love.

• Saint Vincent of Saragossa, a deacon and martyr of the early Church, embodied fidelity and courage under persecution. As a servant of the Gospel and the poor, he witnessed that the Church’s treasures are people, and that truth is worth suffering for; but not killing for.

Both saints demonstrate David’s wisdom and the Apostles’ courage: mercy restrained from harm, steadfast in truth, and joyfully sent for the sake of the least.

Practices for Ordinary Time

• Practice the pause: Before responding to provocation, take refuge in a brief prayer; “Lord, have mercy. Cover me with your wings.” Then respond.
• Show, don’t strike: When wronged, present the truth with evidence and humility. Refuse the satisfaction of public shaming.
• Begin with presence: Give Jesus ten undistracted minutes each day; Scripture, silence, or simple companionship; before you do anything for Him.
• Seek one concrete reconciliation: Offer an apology you’ve delayed, forgive an old slight, or take one step toward repair, balanced with appropriate boundaries.
• Fast from contempt: Especially on Fridays, abstain not only from food but from sarcasm and scorn. Let your words be seasoned with mercy.

A Closing Encouragement

The Lord who sheltered David in a cave and called imperfect friends up a mountain is the same Lord who shelters and calls us today. May we receive mercy deeply enough to restrain our power, reconcile where we can, and then go out; quietly courageous; to preach with our lives the Gospel that heals the world.