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Gospel:
Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath.
And a woman was there who for eighteen years
had been crippled by a spirit;
she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.
When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said,
“Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.”
He laid his hands on her,
and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.
But the leader of the synagogue,
indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath,
said to the crowd in reply,
“There are six days when work should be done.
Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.”
The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites!
Does not each one of you on the sabbath
untie his ox or his ass from the manger
and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,
ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?”
When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Once again, the Lord teaches us how to love one another.
In the Temple, Jesus spots a woman who’s been hunched over for 18 years. His heart is moved with compassion for her … and immediately he acts.
“He laid his hands on her,” the Gospel tells us, “and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.”
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This is the mark of a true disciple of Jesus: we see someone suffering – and, immediately, we act.
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Too often our hearts are moved with compassion for the sick, the poor, and the lonely, but we fail to do something concrete about it. This isn’t because we don’t want to, but for one reason or another we put it off.
Consider the difference between these few examples:
“I should call and check up on my neighbor.” Versus, “I will call them now. If they don’t answer, then I will knock on their door…If still no response, then I will try again tomorrow.”
“I should forgive those hurt feelings deep within.” Versus, “I will not stop praying until the Lord takes this burden of anger from me.”
“I should be more generous to the less fortunate.” Versus, “I will increase my giving to charitable causes this holiday season and spend time serving the poor, learning their names, and listening to their stories.”
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Jesus saw a woman hunched over for 18 years and, immediately, he acted.
May we have that same type of responsive compassion for others today.
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Image credits: (1) Theconsecratedwoman.wordpress.com (2) RedeemerBibleChurch.org (3) altavi.com