January 21, 2015
Wednesday, 2nd Week in Ordinary Time 1st Reading: Heb 7;1-3,15-17
Gospel: Mk 3:1–6
Jesus entered the synagogue. A man who had a paralyzed hand was there and some people watched Jesus: Would he heal the man on the Sabbath? If he did they could accuse him.
Jesus said to the man with the paralyzed hand, “Stand here in the center.” Then he asked them, “What does the Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To do good or to do harm? To save life or to kill?” But they were silent.
Then Jesus looked around at them with anger and deep sadness because they had closed their minds. And he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was healed. But as soon as the Pharisees left, they met with Herod’s supporters, looking for a way to destroy Jesus.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
Unless a person keeps love in his heart he will always feel discontented of the ways of God. Consider how angry the Pharisees were when Jesus cured a man with a paralyzed hand on a Sabbath. They were angry because healing the sick was too big a job to be done on a Sabbath where work was prohibited. Their Sabbath Law prohibited work on the Seventh Day of the Week to honor God the Creator who rested on the seventh day after creating the world. The Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law expanded the concept of work to cover even menial tasks like picking grains (Mk 2:23–28) and healing the sick.
If indeed Jesus violated the Sabbath Law, it was a consequence of his deep compassion for his people. To Jesus, healing the sick couldn’t wait another day. His love for the sick was like a conflagration that no amount of water could put out. The Pharisees tried to stop him by citing the Sabbath Law. But Jesus gave a devastating rebuttal. Jesus asked them, “What does the Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To do good or to do harm? To save life or to kill?” They fell silent. This silence, however, was no indication of conversion but aversion. If they had love in their hearts they would have rejoiced over the cure of a fellow Jew rather than dwell on their skewed interpretation of the Sabbath Law.
The Pharisees were always present at every miraculous performance of Jesus. But their presence was for the purpose of scrutiny rather than devotion. They were also almost always present when Jesus was preaching. But they were listening with shrewd minds, and they were always looking for opportunity to trap him on his own words. Love is always the way of God because God is love. If we do not have love in our hearts we will find God’s ways revolting. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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