"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." (Mark 3: 1... 6).
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” (Mark 3: 4).
Wednesday 19th January 2022, in the 2nd Week in OrdinaryTime.
In Mark 2: 23 - 28, Jesus was entangled in a Sabbath controversy with the religious leaders. Jesus silenced them by saying: “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” (Mark 2: 27 - 28).
We have today another Sabbath controversy. Here we see Jesus on the offensive: “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” (Mark 3: 4). We know the answer to Jesus question from the previous Sabbath controversy quoted above. . The adversaries of Jesus did not answer the question. They knew the answer but they had ill-will and hardness of heart and decided to keep silent.
The man with the withered hand represents all of us. What the Pharisees miss is that the great day of healing is the Sabbath, Lord's Day / Sunday and the Healer is still the same: Jesus Christ healing His ailing sisters and brothers through His word and through the Eucharist.
Is it good to increase the minimum wage or is it unlawful to so do?
Is it good to give some relief to undocumented immigrants or it unlawful to do so?
We all can be Pharisees and Herodians in what we consider good and bad.
Jesus speaks to us every day through the Scriptures proclaimed in the Sacred Liturgy. Same Scripture, same Liturgy all over the world. This is the beauty of Catholicism. One Faith. One Pope. One Liturgy. Worldwide.
Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com
I love your reference to Catholic liturgy all being the same. All over the world. That’s one reason why our prayers are so effective. Many, many Catholics are praying for the same thing every day.
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