Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?

 

Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

In our gospel for today we see the Pharisees, as usual, looking for a way to catch Jesus in breaking the Jewish Laws and Customs. The Pharisees were so wrapped up and concerned about anyone deviating from the Law that they forgot why these laws were put in place to begin with.

In other parts of scripture, when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He responded that we are to love God with our whole mind, heart, and soul, and we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is the heart of the Law that the Pharisees seem to be missing: love of God and love of neighbor. The laws were put into place to show us how to live a life pleasing to God and to show this love of God to our neighbor.

Further, in living out that love of neighbor, we are to be there for them in their time of need. No law of God would ever be in the way of doing good for someone in need. Christ in this gospel saw someone in need of healing and proceeded to heal this man. What was more important to Jesus was the well being of the person that needed to be cured, not the fact that it was being done on the Sabbath.

The Pharisees had allowed regulations and propriety to take over; they had become institutionalised. Jesus showed them that they had lost sight of the dignity of the people they claimed to lead. Jesus challenges us to respond to those in need, to think less of ourselves than of those whose need is greater than ours.

Further, as with the Pharisees towards Jesus, there are those in our lives that may look at us to see how we may be living out our lives as Christians. The Pharisees were looking for ways that Jesus may have been breaking the Sabbath law, and there are people in our lives who may be looking at us to see if we are falling short in our following of Christ. They will be quick to point out our alleged hypocrisy. So, it’s always important to carry ourselves in a way that is pleasing to God by showing Him the love and respect He is deserved as God, and to show love & respect to those in our lives who are made in His image. We need to do this with all sincerity and honesty. This would even mean being there to lend a helping hand to someone in need even when it may be inconvenient to do so.

Mother St. Teresa of Calcutta once said, “Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you.” Let us continue to live out the gospel of Jesus Christ by loving God and those in our lives.

I consider that the Sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us

 

Scripture readings for Tuesday of t he Thirtieth week in Ordinary Time can be found at Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

In our first reading from St. Paul's letter to the Romans, St. Paul encourages us not to give up our hope and faith in the glory of God. Through this faith and hope as Christians and followers of Jesus Christ we will have the peace that can come through faith in God. Paul is encouraging us not to be so wrapped up in our cares and troubles that we forget that Jesus is present to us in all our troubles. Our Lord is always there waiting for us to ask for His help in whatever problems we are facing. 

Central to Paul's teaching in today's reading is that of hope: "For in hope we were saved." (Romans 8:24) Part of living our day to day lives means to deal with issues with health, financial problems, and problems with family and friends. In all these problems we face, we are to place our hope and concerns in the loving hands of Jesus Christ. Once we place our cares into the loving hands of Jesus, the problems become lighter, knowing that Jesus is helping us to carry our daily crosses. Will the problems go away? No, they'll still be there, but if we place Jesus in the center of all our concerns, we can have that peace that can only come through faith and hope in Jesus Christ. 

Maintain the Perspective that Jesus is Lord

Whoever lives in the presence of so good a friend and excellent a leader as is Jesus Christ can endure all things.

 

These are the words of St. Teresa of Jesus, also known as St. Teresa of Avila, virgin and doctor of the Church, who’s feast we celebrate today.

Teresa was born in Avila in Spain in the year 1515. She entered the Carmelite order and would go on to be known for her books, “The Way of Perfection” and her Autobiography. Teresa spent her entire religious life attempting to help the Carmelite nuns and priests become more prayerful by encouraging them to follow their promises or vows to God in a stricter way. Central to the Carmelites, like all religious orders, was their vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Further, central to the Carmelite order, was the importance to spend quiet time with the Lord in devout prayer, contemplation and meditation. At the time of Teresa, many of the nuns and priests were living lives not worthy of their religious callings. They were betraying their call to serve God in a way pleasing to Him.

The focus of Teresa’s teachings to the nuns and priests, and to us today, was always to have Jesus as the center of who we are in all we do. In her teachings, she reminded everyone that we are always in the presence of Jesus, whether we’re in church, at home, or doing our chores during the day. So, in all our activity, we are to perform it in a way that is pleasing to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is present in our every move and action. This earthly road we travel, remembering that Christ is always present to us in whatever we do, was important to Teresa. Teresa says, “A person should desire no other path, even if he be at the summit of contemplation. This Lord of ours is the one through whom all blessings come to us.”

As we come to church and offer up our prayers to God, and as we go through our day, let us remember that Jesus is walking with us hand in hand in all we do. We can make each thing we do a prayer to God. Not only the prayers we offer at mass, or by praying the rosary daily, but, also, as we go through our days, let us meditate on the presence of God in our lives, present in every moment and activity.

St. Teresa would go on to say in her autobiography, “We, however, are citizens of heaven, and we eagerly wait for our Savior Jesus Christ, to come from heaven.” As we go through this day, let us remember that we, and all we meet, are citizens of heaven. Let us pray for those we know that may fall short of being followers of Christ and pray for ourselves that we may have the strength to always act in ways that reflect that we are followers of Jesus Christ.

Let's Stop Pretending

O Jesus, my Love…my vocation, at last I found it… my vocation is Love!

 

O Jesus, my Love…my vocation, at last I found it… my vocation is Love!

These are words that were written by St. Theresa of the Child Jesus, lovingly known as the Little Flower. Today the Church celebrates her feast day.

She was born in Alencon, France, in 1873 to devout parents, Marie-Azelie Guerin and Louis Martin. While still young, she received permission to enter the local cloistered Carmelite Convent. While there she struggled a great deal with how she should respond to God’s Call to be the type of Christian that God wanted her to be. One Call she felt was to be a missionary, but as a Cloistered Nun, that was not possible. So, she prayed and reflected upon scripture in order to better understand her Call to follow Jesus Christ in the convent.

While meditating upon the 12^th and 13^th chapters of St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, she came across the line from St. Paul saying, “…there are three things that last: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13 Therese’s response to this was, “O Jesus, my Love…my vocation, at last I have found it…my vocation is Love!” 

Theresa realized that she didn’t need to be a missionary, a martyr, or even a priest to respond to God’s call in her life. God was calling her to the vocation of Love. In other words, she was responding to the command of Jesus to love God with her whole heart, soul, and being, and to love her neighbor as herself. Therese realized that in her daily routine in the convent of the Daily Prayers and Mass, she was called to respond to God with love for Him and for all those she was called to pray for.

We, like St. Theresa, are all called to that same vocation of Love. Whether we’re married or single, parent or child, we all have the same Christian vocation: that of Love. We are to love God, and to love those people God has placed into our lives: our spouses, our children, and our families. It’s not always easy to love those in our families when we may be facing problems or issues with them, but our vocation is to respond to them with the Love that God has for each one of us.

As we spend time during the day reflecting on Scripture, praying at Mass, and doing our daily devotions of praying the rosary and any of the other devotions we do, let us ask God for this grace to have this love of Him and our neighbor. God will be there for us to help us to respond to this call of Love.

Also, if you ever get a chance, I highly recommend you read “The Story of a Soul” by St. Theresa. This beautiful book will help us to know more about who she was and how she responded to God’s call of Love. St. Theresa of the Child Jesus, pray for us.