Today
Jesus asks the Pharisees a point-blank, heart-piercing question: “Is it
lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” And then followed a very significant and
self-condemnatory silence.
The Pharisees have a bad
conscience – they knew that they had a ludicrous preoccupation with the letter
of the Judaic law while having at the same time a total disdain of the spirit
of that law. The spirit would allow for healing especially on the Sabbath day –
the Day of Worship of the God of Providence, Mercy and Compassion.
The Pharisees realize that
their hypocritical behavior cannot be justified and this is what keeps them
silent.
A very clear lesson for us
that shines through this lesson is that
saintliness is to follow Christ – wholeheartedly and completely – doing what he would do - and not coldly
fulfilling some legal prescriptions of “religion.” The Commandments are holy
because they come from God’s Wisdom, but it is quite possible to live them in a
legalistic and empty way, and it is then that the inconsistency appears of
pretending to follow God and ending up by betraying our very consciences, our
very selves.
Let us the simple, humble ways
of the Mother of God direct our lives – and make them full and vibrant, rather
that false and empty.
Is it
lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?
No comments:
Post a Comment