The story of the first kings of Israel is interesting, first of all, because it is God himself who chooses the kings and chooses them according to criteria that are completely different from those that each of us expects. Israel had asked for a king and God, somewhat unwillingly, had chosen Saul. Saul disobeyed God and God rejected him as king. Another king had to be found. God lays claim to the choice of a king because he must be according to his heart. Samuel set out in search of the king following all the indications that God, step by step, was giving him. He went to Jesse to see his eight sons. After going through them all, the last one was missing. No one imagined it could be David, instead, he is the new king of Israel, that boy who was grazing the sheep a little earlier. The same rule always stands out: God always chooses those that no one would expect because he does not look “on outward appearances”: He choose Mary, the simple girl of the last village in Galilee; he choose Samuel, a boy who does not know the Scripture and who lives in the temple; he choose Saul, a young man sent to look for the lost donkeys; he choose an old man like Abraham to have a great offspring; he chooses a stutterer named Moses as a speaker to convince the people to leave Egypt, and the list goes on. God looks at the hearts of men.

David is not asked for anything, neither about his availability nor about his wishes. The decision belongs only to God, it is he who calls, it is he who gives the mission. The anointing is not just a rite but is accompanied by the true gift, which can only come from the Lord: by the breath of the Spirit of God. Thus a boy without credentials is placed at the head of Israel.

This is accomplished by the Spirit of God, who transforms people and, despite their inadequacies and limitations, makes them fit to take on the mission that the Lord entrusts to them, a mission that surpasses their human strength and their qualities. The Spirit is the source of newness and the transforming force that God introduces into history.

The question that we religious and laypeople ask ourselves today: what is God calling me for? What are my weaknesses? What scares me? Whatever your vocation and your role in the Church and society, remember that if God has called you he will not abandon you. He will be beside you and, with his  Holy Spirit, he will help you to transform your weaknesses into strength.

Whatever our vocation, however, we must remember an important thing that the Gospel reminds us that “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath!”. Do you know what is the commandment that even God keeps? The rabbis say it is the Sabbath precept. “Take care to keep holy the sabbath day” (Deut 5:14) it is only the prologue of a catechesis that explains the reasons for this commandment. The main cause is “Remember that you too were once slaves in Egypt” (Deut 5:15). Now that you are free, now that you have workers who work for you, here: do not get pharaoh on them! Respect the Sabbath, the rest that is due to them. Jesus joins this ancient tradition to remember precisely that “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath!”: The precept, any precept that “uses” God to mortify a human person cannot come from God, creator, and liberator.

In Jesus’ revolution, the Sabbath is not the purpose. The Sabbath, therefore the moral law, is aimed at building the person, it is for the good of the person. Jesus reminds us that any religious practice that leads to indifference towards a sister or a brother cannot be blessed by the Creator. I give an example: it is Sunday and, according to the rules of the Church I have to attend Sunday Mass. In my house there is my elderly and seriously ill mother: she needs assistance. I am the only one who can assist her. What should I do? Going to the church or being at the side of my mother? Jesus would say: Stay with your mother! But do I commit sin? No! First the human person and then the law! Human person, without any doubt!

With what consequences? We cannot judge and condemn anyone because he has transgressed a law of God if we do not know that person deeply, what his sufferings are and how he came to that situation. Jesus’ disciples were hungry: they were legitimate to transgress the law. Jesus teaches us to consider human person first, his weaknesses, to welcome him/her even if he was the greatest sinner in the whole world, to help him/her, and at the same time to announce to him/her that God is good and merciful, that God understands and forgives, that God loves him and wants his good. In this way of seeing things, the law will no longer become an imposition but a response of love to those who love us.

Also for these days dedicated to the prayer for the unity of Christians, don’t forget, please, that among the cause of division among the Churches, there is stubbornness, lacking understanding, lacking listening. The law prevailed over love. Let’s try to change direction!

Whatever our vocation, let us remember well: first man and then law! First faith and then morals!