A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 6:1-5)
Jesus said to the Pharisees in reply, “Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry? How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”
Jesus responds to the Pharisees who criticize the disciples as they walk through a field, picking the heads of grain and eating them. It’s not difficult to imagine this scene. The Pharisees are on their way somewhere, and they stop in their tracks when they notice the disciples doing something unlawful. In response to the criticism of his disciples’ conduct, Jesus argues that human needs, including satisfying hunger and performing works of mercy, take precedence over the sabbath. In the Gospel according to Mark, Jesus says: “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.” In today’s Gospel, Jesus identifies the Pharisees’ confining legalistic understanding of the sabbath and offers a deeper understanding rooted in mercy, compassion, and fulfillment of the Father’s will.
Father in heaven, you look first to the care of your people over manmade rules, rules that become distorted through fallen human nature. When I am overzealous to go to the defense of a house rule or certain habit, help me slow down and think through what I am about to say or do. Is there instead an opportunity for me to be like your Son and offer mercy? When I am keen to point out someone’s wrongdoing, give me the grace to recognize that everything I have is from you. In the sabbath, as with all your good gifts, help me be merciful as you are merciful. Saint Peter Claver, pray for us!
From the Gospel acclamation: “I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.