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Gospel: Mark 2: 23-28
As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath,
his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.
At this the Pharisees said to him,
“Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
He said to them,
“Have you never read what David did
when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?
How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest
and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat,
and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them,
“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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There’s only one group of people whom Jesus cannot stomach. Surprisingly, perhaps, it isn’t tax collectors, prostitutes, or sinners.
He loved them all and often forgave them.
The ones whom Jesus cannot tolerate are the hardened religious leaders of his day, who pressed the Jews into following hundreds of man-made laws, including a law which forbade people from eating grain on the Sabbath, as we hear in today’s Gospel.
What good is it to follow a series of rules if doing so does not lead to an inner transformation of the heart?
This is why Jesus says elsewhere, they are like “whitewashed tombs,” religious rule-followers on the outside, but defiled within.
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Catholics also follow a series of rules. We attend Mass on Sundays. We say our prayers. We avoid eating meat on Fridays during Lent. These guidelines are meant to lead us to an inner transformation.
Receiving Jesus in the Eucharist becomes “food for the journey.” Praying the rosary allows us to intercede on behalf of others. Avoiding meat on Fridays in Lent reminds us of the sacrifice that Christ made in his flesh on the Cross.
But if we aren’t aware of why we’re doing these things – if we’re just going through the motions – then they begin losing their ultimate purpose.
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Today’s Gospel isn’t meant to upend the “rules” we follow. Rather, it’s meant to make us more aware of why we follow them. Behind each “rule” is a door that’s meant to lead us to Jesus.
Do I feel closer to the Lord while at Mass? Am I growing in devotion to his Sacred Heart through prayer? Do I believe this Lent will be a fruitful season spiritually?
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Let’s not waste either our time or our effort. Be mindful about what you’re doing – and why. Then the guidelines we follow will lead us to the Lord.
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Image credits: (1) Got Questions (2) Grace and Peace, Joanne (3) Infinum Growth