Author: admin

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Gospel: Mark 3: 1-6

Jesus entered the synagogue.
There was a man there who had a withered hand.
They watched Jesus closely
to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.
He said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up here before us.”
Then he said to the Pharisees,
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
But they remained silent.
Looking around at them with anger
and grieved at their hardness of heart,
Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel
with the Herodians against him to put him to death.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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In ancient Palestine, most men made a living through manual labor. For example, Joseph was a carpenter. Paul was a tent maker. Peter was a fisherman. Tradition states that this man in today’s Gospel was a stone mason.

Like many other professions, masonry required the use of both hands. Thus, his withered hand not only prevents him from working; it’s also symbolic of his state in life. He’s paralyzed; all income and opportunity have dried up. 

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His injury also represents the withered hearts of the religious authorities, who’ve become paralyzed, deadened inside through a harsh interpretation of the Law.

The fact that they aren’t moved by this miraculous healing, or wish that Jesus would simply have done it on another day, implies they’ve placed legal boundaries around compassion.

It’s okay to be compassionate six days a week, but don’t dare lift a finger on the Sabbath; that’s God’s day, as if God could ever rest from charity. 

This is what angers Jesus so much, because love is the highest law.

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Today we’re all invited to reflect upon our own personal limitations. 

Do we place a boundary around charity? Do we miss opportunities to love, to give, to forgive, to serve Christ in our neighbor? 

If we have failed, most often it isn’t because we are unwilling to do good; often, we’re too busy to notice the needs of others.

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“Jesus said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was restored.” 

Yes, God worked on the Sabbath, because love is the highest law. May we have that same attentive eye towards our neighbors today.

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Image credits: (1) Petrie Flom Center (2) My Lutheran Roots (3) BOOST Radio

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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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It’s been said, “There is no fight like a family fight – or as some families call it, Thanksgiving dinner.”

Living in tight quarters, and even sharing DNA, does not mean that we inherently agree with one another. Topics like politics and religion are often lightning rods, which families intentionally avoid, lest there be a blow up at the dinner table.

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In today’s Gospel, there’s a “family fight” between Jesus, his disciples, and the Pharisees over what is lawful to do on the Sabbath.

It’s easy for us distant listeners to imagine the Pharisees as being totally other; enemies of Jesus and his followers from the very start. But that is not the case. All of them present in this argument are Jewish, and presumably of good will.

All of them grew up reading the Torah. All of them understood what was – and wasn’t – considered lawful on the Sabbath.

The fact that Mark cites this argument as taking place in a field of grain suggests that the Pharisees were among Jesus initial followers; they weren’t hiding out in the field waiting to catch him by surprise. They were genuinely curious about who this rabbi was.

Only later in his Gospel does Mark acknowledge the separation between Jesus and the Pharisees as they begin plotting his death. But the argument today over the Sabbath may have been what caused the split.

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The fundamental difference between Jesus and the Pharisees is their starting point. The Pharisees viewed all of life through the lens of law. Jesus, however, starts with the heart. 

What good is it, according to Christ’s logic, to follow a series of rules – washing one’s hands, avoiding work on the Sabbath, or abstaining from certain foods – if doing such things does not lead to a transformation of the heart?

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Thus, it’s not what we do that matters as much as why we do it. Follow the rules. Or don’t. It only makes a difference if we follow them out of love.

May the Lord renew and cleanse us all today so that we may better love and serve him – not just on the Sabbath – but every day of our lives.

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Image credits: (1) Calibre Control (2) Jesus and His Apostles, Wehle (3) Linda’s Bible Study, WordPress

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Gospel: Mark 2: 18-22

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast.
People came to Jesus and objected,
“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,
 but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them,
“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast on that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.
Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Fermentation is the process that turns grape juice into wine. During fermentation, gas is released, causing the wineskins to expand, which is why new, stretchy wineskins must be used.

Old skins rip and tear, as Jesus describes in today’s Gospel.

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What is this “new wine” that the Lord is speaking of? And who are the “wine skins”?

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Most directly, the Lord is speaking to his Apostles. He longs to pour the “new wine” of his love into their hearts. However, divine love releases grace, causing the human heart to expand, which at times, can be uncomfortable.

If the Apostles are going to become who Jesus desires them to be – the foundation of the Church and his witnesses to the ends of the earth – then they must be willing to be stretched like new wineskins.

This stretching begins during their earthly journey with Jesus, as they digest his teachings and witness his miracles, but their transformation is complete at Pentecost. 

There, they are no longer the same fishermen who dropped their nets on the shores of Galilee, nor are they the same men who fled fearfully from Calvary. They become emboldened; determined; convinced; ready to do the Lord’s will.

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At times, we all need a little stretching – a change in belief, a renewal of spirit.

But God will not force himself upon us; we must be willing to change. As Saint Thomas Aquinas once said, “grace builds upon nature.”

So, where am I in need of renewal, an infusion of divine grace?

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In the words of Saint Paul, “May God who has begun this good work within us bring it to fulfillment.” 

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Image credits: (1) Lay Cistercians of South Florida (2) Daily Dose with Dr.Shermaine (3) Medium