“Why are doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” (Lk 6:2)
READING OF THE DAY
A reading from the first Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians
1 COR 4:6b-15
Brothers and sisters:
Learn from myself and Apollos not to go beyond what is written,
so that none of you will be inflated with pride
in favor of one person over against another.
Who confers distinction upon you?
What do you possess that you have not received?
But if you have received it,
why are you boasting as if you did not receive it?
You are already satisfied; you have already grown rich;
you have become kings without us!
Indeed, I wish that you had become kings,
so that we also might become kings with you.
For as I see it, God has exhibited us Apostles as the last of all,
like people sentenced to death,
since we have become a spectacle to the world,
to angels and men alike.
We are fools on Christ’s account, but you are wise in Christ;
we are weak, but you are strong;
you are held in honor, but we in disrepute.
To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty,
we are poorly clad and roughly treated,
we wander about homeless and we toil, working with our own hands.
When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;
when slandered, we respond gently.
We have become like the world’s rubbish, the scum of all,
to this very moment.
I am writing you this not to shame you,
but to admonish you as my beloved children.
Even if you should have countless guides to Christ,
yet you do not have many fathers,
for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Luke
LK 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.”
SATURDAY OF THE TWENTY-SECOND WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME - Luke 6:1-5
THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
Dear People of God,
Today's Word of God wants to tell all humanity that God is the master of the Sabbath, the master of every day in human life, and the master of all laws.
God wants humans to obey the law, but that law must be God's law, which is the law of love. God always puts love above all laws and puts humankind above all things.
Therefore, God always calls everyone to follow God's law of love, rather than obey the law of outward appearance, because it will not lead to eternal life. God gave the law to save humanity, and to bring God's love and mercy to all mankind.
In today's Gospel, God shows two images:
-The First image is the image of Jesus' disciples on the way to follow Him. Because they were hungry, they picked grain to eat on the Sabbath.
The disciples plucking grain to eat to nourish their bodies is not wrongful, they are not breaking the law. But those who keep the law in an outward appearance condemn His disciples for breaking the law. Through that, Jesus wants to tell everyone that His disciples are not wrong at all.
Furthermore, He also teaches those who are living a fake life, keeping God's law in a formal way, to wake up to obey and live according to the law that God gave to mankind; do not follow the law of the world to harm humanity and cause humankind to distance from God.
- The second image is the image of the Pharisees blaming Jesus' disciples: why did they pick grain and eat it on the Sabbath, also leaves a lesson for humanity today that the Catholic Church is a holy Church of God, with Jesus Christ as the head, the master of the Church, so He does not want His Church to fall into the traps and temptations of Satan, which is keeping the formal laws; because maintaining the keeping of the formal laws will not please God and will cause stumbling blocks for His children. He also reminds the children in His Church to live and keep the law that God Himself gave, which is the Law of Love, and put love and charity towards others above all laws; do not let the formal laws cause the souls of the suffering sheep to be separated from God.
Today, God calls upon the shepherds of His Church to put God's Law of Love above all laws to help suffering souls return to God the Father; do not rely on human laws and reasoning to overwhelm God's law of love.
Because human laws do not bring us love, happiness, and eternal life. Only God's law given to His Church, to every soul, is the Law of Love, which can lead to perfect happiness, which is the Kingdom of Heaven.
God calls upon all His children to live and put the Law of Love above all laws. Which is to love God above all things and to love others as ourselves.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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