Gospel: Luke 6:1-5
While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath, his disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. Some Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry? How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
The Mass intention is for Canon John Berry RIP.
Reflection:
In our Gospel today, Jesus once again unmasks the Pharisees’ myopic view of keeping the sabbath holy. In their eyes, the disciples’ eating the heads of grain to relieve them from hunger was unacceptable. As lord of the sabbath, Jesus clarifies that the spirit of the law is more important than the letter of the law. I remember Pope Francis saying, during the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, that babies often cry when they are “in an environment that is strange” or when they are hungry. He then urged the mothers to make their babies comfortable: “[I]f they cry because they are hungry, breastfeed them”. Some people may be shocked at the Pope’s advice, but I think, Jesus would have said the same.
Keeping the sabbath holy is not only performing rituals and saying several prayers. A priest once commented that God does not need our prayers. We say our prayers because we need God. Beyond the rituals and prayers, keeping the Lord’s Day holy is sharing what we have received from Jesus: faith, hope, and love.
· How do you observe Sundays and holydays of obligations?
· How important is Sunday worship to you?
· In what ways can you support the parish’s outreach to those in need?
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Word today. You have given us everything. Enable us to share these with others. Amen.
Sincerely,
Pietro
