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We all want to be successful.

Whether that means being successful in school; in our career; in our marriage; in raising children; or successful as a preacher.

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Jesus wanted the same. He wanted to be successful in his ministry, but he sees it’s coming crashing to an end.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem,” he says, “how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling.”

Meaning, his message has been met with resistance.

Jesus didn’t convert King Herod; he didn’t convert the religious authorities; and, in some sense, he didn’t even convert his friends.

In a matter of days, he’ll be dead. 

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But what looks like an epic failure will be transformed into an epic success.

Three days after his crucifixion, Jesus rises from the dead. 

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The resurrection reminds us that God can transform anything, even failure, into success. 

And by extension, our sins into grace; our loss into gain; our death into life.

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We all want to be successful.

But when it looks like things aren’t going our way – as Jesus felt hanging from the cross – stay tuned. It isn’t over yet. 

God has the last word. He promises that everything will work for our good.

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“What is the kingdom of God like? … It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it became a large bush” (Luke 13:18-20).

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Can you remember a person or a moment that changed your life?

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Fourteen years ago, a priest asked me a question no one else ever had: Have you ever considered becoming a priest?

I didn’t know him well. He might’ve asked other young men that question, too. 

But he planted a seed.

And it changed my life.

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We’re all called to plant seeds like this in other people’s lives. 

Small gestures that can make a world of difference. 

There’s nothing dramatic about putting our iPhones down to listen to each other at dinner; serving at a soup kitchen; buying a Christmas gift for a stranger; or writing an email to an old friend.

But a tiny seed can change someone’s life.

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Do something kind for someone else today. Plant a seed. 

Who knows what may happen.

Today’s Gospel passage:

“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.”

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Why must Jesus break the Law?

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It was forbidden to do any work on the Sabbath. Even healing a woman bound by Satan for 18 years was considered “work.”

If she’d been hunched over for 18 years, then why couldn’t Jesus just wait a day?

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His heart was moved with pity. Jesus understood the level of this woman’s suffering. Healing her was urgent.

Be he also wanted to shake up the religious authorities, who needed to learn a foundational lesson on faith.

Faith without works is dead.

We cannot praise – or please – God if we ignore those who suffer.

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Think about how many in our country are hunched over like this woman.

Their backs are nearly breaking because of unemployment; bills piling up; loneliness; stress; isolation; fear of COVID, and so on.

Are our hearts stirred to action like Jesus?

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Even a simple phone call; a kind word of encouragement; or a generous tip at dinner can lighten another’s burden.

Our love for God often expresses itself through our love for our neighbor.

How, then, will I put my faith into action today?