Monday January 20, 2020 Saul: The Cafeteria King

I haven’t heard the term recently, but it came to mind as I read about Saul in today’s first reading.  Saul was a “cafeteria king.”  He chose to follow what God told him to do sometimes—but not others.  Between  Saturday’s first reading in 1 Samuel 10 when Samuel anointed Saul and today’s first reading in 1 Samuel 15, Saul has had a mixture of obedience and disobedience—as well as a mixture of military successes and failures.

By “cafeteria king,” I’m referring back to a term once popular in Catholic circles—“cafeteria Catholic.”  Cafeteria Catholics were those who chose to be in the Church, but who followed some church teaching and rejected other teaching.  They picked what they liked—as a person would choose from among various foods in a cafeteria.

Saul’s Predicament

By the time of today’s reading, Saul has defeated the Ammonites, but disobeyed God as he fought the Philistines. He has made rash oaths, set up a monument to himself, and now has disobeyed God again in how he is handling his victory over the Amalekites.  God told him to put everything “under the ban.”  That meant to destroy everything.  Saul destroys the foot soldiers and many of the people, but he keeps Agag, the king, and he lets his soldiers plunder some of the best of the animals—“to keep them to sacrifice to God.”

Today the prophet Samuel confronts Saul and informs him that God has “repented” of making Saul king.  God has given up on him and has turned away.  Saul begs forgiveness, but neither Samuel nor God relent.  Though Saul continues as king for a number of years, God ceases to bless his reign.

When I first read today’s reading, it seemed God was being awfully hard on Saul.  But reading chapters 9-15, it is clear that Saul is not a good leader. He doesn’t know what to do in the midst of battles—yet he doesn’t take direction from God.  It was not all right with God for Saul to be a cafeteria king, to obey when it suited him and disobey when it didn’t. His people needed guidance Saul didn’t let God give him.

Oboedire

The word “obey” comes from the Latin word “oboedire.”  When that word is examined, it literally means “ob”—in the direction of  + “audire”—to hear.  So, literally, to obey is to move in the direction of what is heard.

Interesting.  At its roots, obedience is not so much compliance as it is listening and following—trusting a voice to let it guide you.  In this case, the voice of God.

Application

This week in the US, the church commemorates January 22, 1973, when the US Supreme Court legalized abortion.  It is a day of prayer and penance.  Our parish will have a day of Adoration.  Many of us will fast as we pray.  Some from our parish will attend the March for Life in Washington, DC on Friday. We will have a special program after mass on Sunday, January 26th.

Each year the US Council of Catholic Bishops puts out a “Respect Life Plan” for use in parishes during the year.  This year’s plan includes ideas, similar to what we are doing, for January  22nd.  It also suggests having a program in March around St. Pope John Paul II’s Evangelium Vitae, the document that clearly outlines church teaching about what God means today by his commandment, “You shall not kill.”   This March 25 marks the 25th anniversary of its publication. 

Our parish is going to put on a play, performed by the students of a local adult residential school where several of us teach faith formation classes each week.  To write the play, I reread and prayed from Evangelium Vitae through Advent.  It is exquisitely beautiful!  Sometimes St. Pope John Paul II can be hard to understand, but not in this document. 

A Question

What struck me this week as I finished up the script, is a disturbing question:  Have I, have we, long-time pro-lifers, become “cafeteria kings”—just like Saul became a cafeteria king—for perhaps the same reasons?

It is a hard question for me.  A disturbing question.  But an important question.

I think of Saul in those battles with the Amalekites and Philistines and other peoples.  In the middle of those battles, when he felt so much responsibility, he made decisions—decisions that made sense to him. But they weren’t all what God told him to do.

Are we, pro-life activists from the 1970s, doing the same thing as Saul did?  Are we cafeteria kings?  We are not so much cafeteria Catholics.  Pro-life activists I know stand solid on church teaching about the sanctity of human life. But are we cafeteria kings—choosing strategies that make sense to us in the heat of battles, but which do not completely follow God’s voice?

From Evangelium Vitae, The Gospel of Life

What is God’s voice on life issues?  Here is a summary from Evangelium Vitae:

  • You shall not kill includes acts of violence, as well as acts of killing. It includes acts of aggression.
  • The “culture of death” began with the selfishness of Cain and his resistance to giving God his best.  It continues today in our selfishness, both personal and cultural.
  • Respecting life includes care of our “common home,” the environment.
  • It includes welcoming the stranger.
  • It includes limiting the death penalty to extreme circumstances.
  • It MOST FOCUSES TODAY ON ABORTION AND EUTHANASIA.  Those are the situations where the “culture of death” takes lives in our culture every day.  These are the most active battlegrounds.
  • Yet it also includes openness in marriage to having children and commitment to family life.
  • “You shall not kill” includes respecting and nurturing the lives of all who have special needs or disabilities.
  • It includes caring for the sick, the elderly, and the fragile.
  • We have a responsibility to work within our communities, cultures, and political systems to change unjust laws and protect life.

The Call

The Call of God’s Word to me today is to face the question: Am I a cafeteria king like Saul in how I strategize in pro-life battles? Am I compromising my own obedience because national and church politics divide what God says? We cannot follow culture or political leaders without also challenging them to include ALL of what God says, because at present none of them follow all the Gospel of Life.

I’m closing today with some quotes from Evangelium Vitae:

“Man’s life comes from God; it is his gift, his image and imprint, a sharing in his breath of life.  God therefore is the sole Lord of this life:  man cannot do with it what he wills. (paragraph 39)

“The deepest element of God’s commandment to protect human life is the requirement to show reverence and love for every person and the life of every person.” (paragraph 41)

“The deliberate decision to deprive an innocent human being of his life is always morally evil and can never be licit either as an end in itself or as a means to a good end….As far as the right to life is concerned, every innocent human being is absolutely equal to all others.” (Paragraph 57)

“Direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder.” (paragraph 62)

“For the Christian, it [following God’s voice] involves an absolute imperative to respect, love and promote the life of every brother and sister, in accordance with the requirements of God’s bountiful love of Jesus Christ.” (paragraph 77)

Prayer:

Lord, by my baptism, I am called to be a prophet, a priest, and a king—following Your lead.  Help me to identify Your voice–then follow it–in Respect Life matters, in all matters.  Speak loudly to me, Lord, that I may obey ALL You ask of me.  Help all of us follow Your voice, that our nation may return to following You.

About the Author

Mary Ortwein lives in Frankfort, Kentucky in the US. A convert to Catholicism in 1969, Mary had a deeper conversion in 2010. She earned a theology degree from St. Meinrad School of Theology in 2015. Now an Oblate of St. Meinrad, Mary takes as her model Anna, who met the Holy Family in the temple at the Presentation. Like Anna, Mary spends time praying, working in church settings, and enjoying the people she meets. Though formally retired, Mary continues to work part-time as a marriage and family therapist and therapy supervisor. A grandmother and widow, she divides the rest of her time between facilitating small faith-sharing groups, writing, and being with family and friends. Earlier in her life, Mary worked avidly in the pro-life movement. In recent years that has taken the form of Eucharistic ministry to Carebound and educating about end-of-life matters. Now, as Respect for Human Life returns to center stage, she seeks to find ways to communicate God's love and Lordship for all--from the moment of conception through the moment we appear before Jesus when life ends.

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13 Comments

  2. Thank you Mary. Your reflection today shows the determination we need as Catholics to do the right thing and not pick and choose what is convenient. Following the voice of God never leads us the wrong way. “Obodire”!

  4. Thank you for your thoughts, Mary. I have always professed to be pro-life but have never spoken out or acted. Thank you, again

  5. Acts of violence and aggression are seen in boxing, football, hockey, basketball, soccer, rugby, karate and other sports. Catholics should not support or participate in these acts of violence and aggression? The means to not justify the end.

  6. Check Vatican News for August 2, 2018. Pope Francis has changed the text in the Catechism to state that capital punishment is inadmissable, rather than limited to extreme circumstances.

  7. Thank you, Mary.
    I agree. The end does not constitute the means. We must stay true to Jesus’ teachings the whole way through.

  8. Thank you Mary, as usual your reflections cause me to take a step back and think more deeply. One day I was praying and it popped into my head, ” we have guns, but just because we have them does not mean we need to kill people.” I was specifically praying about abortion and found this an odd thought to pop up. But I began to think that I have been too transfixed on the political issue of legalization, and not focusing on directing my attention to addressing the men and women at the center of considering aborting the life in the first place. If we spent all our time, energy and money on holding them in love and assisting them in their early direction, then there would be no need for the law in the first place. The full circle of respecting all life, nature to humans, should be taught from birth on.

  9. Why does the Church not take an active stance against war? It clearly cannot support it, but has it ever spoken out against it? In such a way as to be famous for it, as famous as it is for its stance on abortion, euthanasia, and birth control?

    Or is it that the Church knows that it would be impossible for it to prevent wars, so that it doesn’t even bother to voice a strong opinion? So it chooses to fight a battle it knows it can have sway in: people’s personal lives.

    I’m pro-choice and Catholic. Pass the tray, please.

  10. I am not judging, but will state the facts:
    Pro-choice = pro-death(killing)

    How can one happily and proudly choose to support (a right) something that is inherently wrong and evil? Abortion is unnatural, it is only God’s choice when someone should die…

    Also, awareness that words kill:
    I kill my children’s and husband’s spirit by my hurtful words, for this I am guilty a sinner, God have mercy on us.

  11. Thank you, Mary, for these thought provoking words. Thank you, Jeniffer, for the reminder that words kill. Lord, have mercy on all of us!

  12. My mother was pregnant in the early 70’s. She was in her early 40’s. Both the doctor and my father wanted her to abort. My father wanted it because her previous pregnancy had resulted in severe complications at birth. He was afraid my mother would die and he would be left with 5 children. The doctor wanted her to abort because he said she was too old to have children, and they would be born with special needs. She became a pro choice woman in that instance. She could not believe these men of little faith were telling her what she should do. My mother was a devout Catholic. She prayed daily and was hard working. She was a pro choice woman her whole life.
    We all choose to walk our walk with Jesus. It’s a personal choice. We choose to do it through prayer, service and action. The gift of the spirit guides us. I trust a woman’s right to choose for herself what is right for her body, her life. It is her walk. I cannot begin to presume I know what’s best for her anymore than that doctor did for my mother.
    I am a Catholic woman who supports pro choice. I love Jesus and pray daily for guidance from the Holy Spirit.

  13. ‘A’- the Catholic church has often spoken out against war, both specifically and generally. Have you not listened? Whether it has much effect I’m not sure. Please recognize that war affects people’s personal lives- just like abortion, euthanasia, racism, slavery and all forms of violence against human dignity.

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