I was deeply moved by a Facebook post by a member of our extended family which read "I have family who are not blood. I have blood who are not family." The statement beautifully reflects his situation, in which my family and I are family to him , but not blood relatives . Family can have a range of meanings.
Our readings today speak of two ancient royal families. The first relates to King David (II Sam. 6). Let's go back to the beginning thread of the narrative where we find the Philistine giant Goliath. He figures in two major stories -- one in which he is killed by David; in the other, by someone else. We are positioned in the David narrative. Here King Saul declares that whoever kills Goliath will have a reward in the form of his eldest daughter. David (whom Saul apparently dislikes) kills Goliath and Saul reneges and gives first daughter to another man. David protests and Saul replies that, if David brings him the foreskins of 100 Philistines, David may have Saul's second daughter Michal. (That is good because the text tells us the Michal really loves David!) The request is, of course, literally ridiculous. It means killing a hundred men. David goes out and kills 200 Philistines (remember that genocide against Philistines is a Jewish pastime back then.)
So David gets to have Michal. However, Saul sends troops out to kill David. Michal lowers him out a window and she takes an idol, dresses it in David's clothes, puts a wig on it, and covers it up in David's bed. When the troops arrive they are in for a surprise. David is on the lam. During this time, Saul gives Michal to another man. David consoles himself in the meantime by taking two other women as wives. When David has become king, he takes Michal away from her husband and takes her as a wife. When David comes into Jerusalem in triumph, he dances lustily before the Ark of the Covenant. Michal sees it and hates him. Maybe the hatred goes back to being abducted from her previous husband, maybe not. In the event, David throws a big victory party. When he comes home Michal lays into him for his unkingly dance, making a fool of himself. He tells her that now he will turn from her and start partying with servant girls!
David was a great king but his personal life was messed up. He specialized in stealing other men's wives, although he said what he got from his boy friend Jonathan was better than what he even got from a woman! Anyway, this was a troubled royal family.
In our New Testament reading [Mk 6: 14-29] we see another royal family, that of Herod and wife Herodias. Herod is a Roman puppet king, half-Jewish in order to placate Jewish subjects. When he marries Herodias, she is still married to his brother-in-law, an egregious violation of Jewish Law. John the Baptiser points that out and it costs him his head, but signals the launch of Jesus' public ministry. Another messed-up royal family.
Our epistle [Eph 1: 3-14] speaks of yet another royal family, the Church in which we are all adopted brothers and sisters called to healthy relationship, to doing ministry for and with one another, in the parish and out in the world. Indeed, Saint Paul speaks of our faith family as our primary allegiance. We are children of the King, serving the world in his name. That is what we are all about as healthy family members who have each other's back, who strive to walk in love and service. I have family who are not blood, and so do you! The family of God.
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