January 7, 2023

“And Samuel hacked King Agag to pieces…” (1 Sam 15:33).  While this historical episode may sound barbaric, the passage functions in an allegorical way to convey the necessity of bringing spiritual tasks to their rightful ending point (cf. Jn 19:30).  How often do we instead let things slide?  How often do we hold back?  How often do we nurture a false hope that things will just magically change on their own?  Indeed, if we are serious about living an authentic spiritual life, we will not be afraid to lay the ax to the root of our inner habits and trust that some new reality will grow forth in our souls.  The more we naively play with those invasive interior species, however, the more susceptible we will become to their cunning and deceptive ways.  Let’s therefore heed the call to repentance (Mk 1:15) and, in doing so, cultivate weed-free hearts where all obstacles to love are hacked away (Mt 13:24-30).  Ave Crux, Spes Unica!