Pope Francis took the inspiration of his homily from the day’s First Reading, which speaks of the great joy with which David and all the people of Israel were celebrating the return of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem following its capture.
The people felt that God was close to them and they celebrated, the Pope said and leading the procession was King David who sacrificed an ox and a fatling. He joined the people shouting, singing and dancing “with all his might”.
The fact that God was with them was the cause of their celebration, the Pope said. David dances before the people expressing his joy without feeling shy. The Pope said it is the spiritual joy of encountering the Lord, of His return to the people. David loves the Lord, and he is happy and joyful to bring back the ark of the Lord with dancing and singing like all the people.
The Pope pointed out that we also experience this joy and celebrate when “when we are with the Lord” in our parishes or villages. In this regard, he recalled that at the time of Nehemiah, in the Old Testament, people wept with joy when the book of the law was found, and they continued their celebration at home.
The Holy Father recalled his predecessor, Saint Pope Paul VI in his Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii Nuntiandi,” saying “the Gospel will not go forward with boring, bitter evangelizers”. “ It will only go forward with joyful evangelizers, full of life.” The Pope thus urged for the joy of receiving the Word of God, the joy of being Christians, the joy of going ahead, the ability to celebrate without being ashamed and not being like Michal, formal Christians, prisoners of formalities.
