Saturday,
September 07, 2019
22nd Week in
Ordinary Time
1st Reading:
Col 1: 21-23
Gospel: Lk 6:1-5
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the corn fields and his disciples began to pick heads of grain crushing them in their hands for food. Some of the Pharisees asked them, “Why do you do what is forbidden on the Sabbath?” Then Jesus spoke, “Have you never read what David did when he and his men were hungry?” He entered the house of God, took and ate the bread of the offering and even gave some to his men, though only priests are allowed to eat that bread.” And Jesus added, “The Son of Man is Lord and rules over the Sabbath.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Jesus found the laws of his times oppressive. Among the victims were his own disciples. The Pharisees enlarged their otherwise innocent acts of picking grains beyond proportion and made them appear as serious as harvesting – an act prohibited by the Sabbath Law.
God gave the Law to Moses under the covenant of love precisely to free the people from oppression. But some zealous religious leaders crafted rules and regulations stricter than the Law itself. Jesus’ heart bled for the victims and exclaimed: Come unto me you who find life burdensome and I will refresh you; take my yoke upon your shoulder for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Jesus restored the Law to its proper place. His declaration that the Sabbath was made for man and not the other way around was an invitation to reflect on the centrality of humans in God’s plan. In the creation narrative of Genesis, God created the human being only after He had prepared the world for humans. God equipped the world, so to speak, before he created humans. He even created the human being in his image and likeness and set him as master of creation. This preferential option cannot allow laws that oppress rather than empower.
Today we struggle to make sense with the killings that happen even in our own backyards. We began with the legitimate crusade of total narcotics elimination. The casualties were justified by claims that those killed had resisted arrest or have retaliated. But then the culture of impunity has emerged. Other people with questionable crusades have taken advantage of the situation and are literally making a killing for themselves. Life is now so cheap. Young people believe so, and they are even taking away their own lives by committing suicide. This is not the value of life in the contemplation of the Lord.
Laws were harsh and Jesus protested. Today, we do not even give the law a chance to evaluate the acts of the perceived lawbreaker. Due process predeceases the accused. Imagine how Jesus would react! – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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