1 Sam 8:4-7, 10-22 / Mark 2:1-12
We tend to have this notion that if we were less busy, we would have more time for prayer and Bible reading and other spiritual activities.
In other words, we may think that if we were less busy, then we would have more time for God.
Maybe for us, the time to look into those things on our KIV list will be maybe when we are on long leave or when we retire.
But does that happen? In fact, and surprisingly, the reverse is true.
The truth is that when we make time for God first, then we will know how to make use of our time.
So it is actually when we let God be the center, then our life and everything else would come together.
This truth is expressed in the gospel when Jesus made the connection between forgiveness and healing.
Because forgiveness is healing, and forgiveness even precedes healing.
Putting in simply, God must come first before we can experience any blessings in life.
But so often we are tempted to do what the people did in the 1st reading when they cried out to Samuel: Give us a king to rule over us, like the other nations.
We get attracted to the achievements and material luxuries of the successful people around us and we want to be like them, without realizing what has been sacrificed for success.
But we are not called to be "like them" ; we are called to be like God, for He is holy and He wants us to be holy.
To be like God means to forgive and heal, because God is forgiveness and healing.