Friends, welcome to Word on Fire, Catholic Ministries. Word on Fire is an apostolate dedicated

to the mission of evangelization, using media both old and new to share the faith on every

continent and to facilitate and encounter with Christ and His Church. The efforts of

Word on Fire engage the culture and bring the transformative power of God's Word where

it is most needed. Today we invite you to join Bishop Robert Baron as he preaches

the gospel and shares the warmth and light of Christ with each of us.

Peace be with you. Friends, our first reading for this Sunday is from the wonderful second

book of Samuel. I had the privilege, as you might know, a couple of years ago to do some

serious research on two Samuel, because I wrote the commentary in the Brazos commentary

series. Anyway, it's a little plug for my book, I suppose. But I came to love this text,

and I think it really is one of the pivotal texts in the whole Bible. And the scene we

have today, which is the confrontation between the prophet Nathan and King David, is one

of the pivotal scenes in this pivotal book. And so we're on very holy ground, I think.

To get it now, we have to go back to the previous chapter, chapter 11, which sets up the

story to which this is kind of a climax today. Listen now how chapter 11 of two Samuel

begins. At the turn of the year when kings go out on campaign, David sent out Joab,

along with his officers and the army of Israel. David, however, remained in Jerusalem.

Well, see, in the typical Lachonic biblical way, there's an awful lot packed into that little

seemingly superficial statement. David was the great king of Israel, and man was he a fighter.

From the time he took on the giant Goliath through his campaigns under Saul, his struggle

again, Saul, etc, etc. His battles with the Philistines, David was always willing to fight.

So our first question is, at the time of the year when kings go out on campaign, why in the world

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