Gospel: July 19, 2024

(Friday)

15th Week in Ordinary Time

Psalter: Week 3 / (Green)

Responsorial Psalm: Is 38: 10, 11, 12abcd, 16

You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.

1st Reading: Isaiah 38: 1-6, 21-22, 7-8

Gospel: Matthew 12: 1-8

It happened that, Jesus was walking through the wheat fields on a Sabbath. His disciples were hungry; and they began to pick some heads of wheat, to crush and to eat the grain. When the Pharisees noticed this, they said to Jesus, “Look at your disciples! They are doing what is prohibited on the Sabbath!”

Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did, when he and his men were hungry? He went into the House of God, and they ate the bread offered to God, though neither he nor his men had the right to eat it, but only the priests. And have you not read in the law, how, on the Sabbath, the priests in the temple desecrate the Sabbath, yet they are not guilty?

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I tell you, there is greater than the temple here. If you really knew the meaning of the words: It is mercy I want, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent.

Besides, the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Reflection:“Blind obedience”

Jesus keeps on inviting us to take his yoke which can help us accept life’s reality as it is. Furthermore, Jesus also invites us to enter into his holiness, the holiness which far exceeds that of the Pharisees. It is a holiness that exceeds mere compliance with the law. It is a holiness which challenges us to care about other people’s well-being. In today’s Gospel, the Pharisees were accusing Jesus’ disciples of violating the Sabbath law. The disciples picked up some heads of wheat in order to crush and to eat the grain because they were hungry. Today’s pericope conveys the clear message that the life and well-being of the people are more important than the mere blind obedience to what the law prescribes. The Pharisees were blinded by their legalistic attitude that they were not able to see the importance of people’s well-being over anything else. In declaring that he is the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus proclaimed that God created the Sabbath so that people may enter into his holiness. Our obedience to the law should help us to become better people, holy people, who know how to truly care for others.