1 Samuel 15:16-23 / Mark 2:18-22
Many a times, we make choices and decisions based on what we think is logical or obvious or practical.
Yet we must remember that we are also a people of faith, and hence our choices and decisions must also take into consideration the spiritual and the supernatural.
So we must always pray and ask for the gift of enlightenment to see circumstances and situations with God-given wisdom.
In other words, our choices and decisions must also be spiritual and not just merely practical.
In the 1st reading, what Saul did was practical. He offered the best sheep and oxen of what was under the ban to sacrifice them to the Lord.
Yet it was a defiled and unworthy sacrifice because those animals ought to be under the ban (to be destroyed).
Also a sacrifice should be what it was supposed to be - a sacrifice. Meaning to say that it must come out of what belongs to our own and we offer it to the Lord willingly.
Similarly, in the gospel, the people asked why John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting but the disciples of Jesus did not.
Fasting is a religious act of sacrifice and it should not be used to compare one with another or even used as a gauge of piety and religiosity.
Let us put a "ban" on all that is sinful in our lives and cut away even venial sins so that we can offer a pure and acceptable sacrifice to the Lord.