Date: Saturday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time
Scripture Text: Luke 6:1-5
While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath, his disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. Some Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” Jesus said to them 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.”
Breaking the text open – background and summary:
The gospel text for today recounts Jesus’ response to the criticism of the Pharisees concerning the conduct of his disciples on the Sabbath. The disciples were getting and eating food. In defense of his disciples’ behavior, Jesus argues that addressing human needs such as hunger do not violate the sacred sabbath rest. Jesus reminds the Pharisees that the Sabbath was given to humankind by the LORD for the benefit of humankind, a time to rest, which is a gift and not an onus.
Meditating on the text with personal questions:
Do I observe the Sabbath as the LORD desires me to do? Do I use it to give thanks and praise to the LORD and to give myself time to refuel and refresh? Do I get hung up with rules and forget their reasons?
Praying:
LORD, help me this day and all days to seek what it is You desire for me, beginning with your will. Help me, through the power of the Spirit, to stand my ground when I have discerned my path prayerfully. Help me to live my faith out loud for pure love and not for show or esteem or prestige. Grant that I may be authentic as your beloved Son in whose footsteps I seek to follow. 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.
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