Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB
In our gospel for today we see
once again how the Pharisees are more concerned with the “letter of the law”
rather than the needs of the people. Yes, it’s true, according to the Law of
Moses, the disciples were doing something that was against the law: they were
doing what the Pharisees considered work by picking the heads of grain to eat
them in their hunger. The Pharisees were unable to see beyond the law. The
disciples were hungry and that was the greater need for them than to follow the
law literally.
The Pharisees had no concern or
mercy towards the disciples in their need. Rather they were ready to condemn them
for breaking the law of no work on the Sabbath. We need to be careful not to
fall into that same trap when we meet people that may not be living their lives
the way we feel they should be living.
Jesus is calling us to show
mercy to those we will encounter in our lives that may be struggling with
issues or problems in their lives. We are not to be judgmental like the
Pharisees. We will come across people, whether family or friends, that may not
be living a life that we approve of. They may be struggling with some issues
that we may not be aware of that cause them to do things that may seem to be
contrary to the law as we understand it to be. Further, there are people today
that are struggling just to make ends meet and are trying to feed themselves
and their families. Jesus is calling us to not to judge them, but rather show
them mercy, and if possible, to reach out to them in their need.
Jesus once summed up the Law as,
“Love God with your whole mind heart and soul and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31) If we follow these words of Jesus when encountering people, then we
will showing the mercy that the Lord is talking about. Further, Mother Teresa
of Calcutta once said “Be
kind and merciful. Let
no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier.”
From Arlene B. Muller
ReplyDeleteAs CHRISTIANS we are seriously challenged to walk a delicate fine line between what in my human understanding seems to be two opposites but does not represent two conflicting sides for GOD & thus were not two conflicting sides for JESUS, Who is fully human & fully GOD.
We are called to be holy & righteous, to hate sin, to avoid sin & even avoid all occasions of sin, but at the same time we are called to love & show mercy & compassion to sinners. We are to reach out in love & mercy to sinners but to do it in such a way that we do not enable sin. We are to stand up for truth & justice without compromise while at the same time we must be uncompromising in mercy, compassion & love. We are to be righteous & stand up against moral decay but we must not be self-righteous, critical or judgmental. Primarily we must seek to live holy, pure, righteous lives with the help of GOD'S grace, focusing on working to overcome our own areas of sinfulness & shine the light & show the love of CHRIST to others & lead by example instead of focusing on the sins of others or pointing fingers. At the same time that we seek to overcome sin & cooperate with GOD'S grace, we must cultivate humility, avoid the sins of pride, vanity & self-righteous & always be mindful of & to acknowledge that we could never be able to be good & be holy if not for the grace of GOD working in us.
It seems like our society is getting more & more sinful, dark & confused & we are supposed to make a difference & try to turn the tide. JESUS was able to associate with sinners without being contaminated or tainted by sin because He is GOD. He is PERFECT TRUTH & JUSTICE & at the same time PERFECT LOVE, COMPASSION & MERCY. Unlike many in our society today He never fell into moral relativism & never became an "enabler". When people trapped in sinful lifestyles encountered JESUS they were overcome by both His merciful & compassionate love & by His perfect holiness & righteousness & were converted & turned from their sinful ways to follow Him. How can we do it as He did it?? How can we be more like JESUS & draw people to JESUS & away from sin? How can we seek that perfect balance & walk on that delicate fine line, avoiding the pitfalls of the self-righteousness & judgmentalism of the Pharisees & thus avoiding falling off to the right side of that delicate fine line, & at the same time avoid the pitfalls of moral relativism, enabling sin, & becoming part of the sin & moral decay of our society, & thus avoid falling over to the left side!
In the words of the King of Siam in the musical "THE KING & I": "TIS A PUZZLEMENT"!
From Arlene B. Muller
ReplyDeleteThe one cause in which I firmly believe & to which I devote some of my financial resources & try to promote is helping pro-life organizations that help women in crisis pregnancies to choose life for their babies instead of choosing abortion. People in pro-life organizations like GOOD COUNSEL HOMES are not judgmental toward women in crisis pregnancies, many of whom have become pregnant out of wedlock. Instead they provide all the support & resources these women & their babies need & accompany them on their journey through pregnancy, labor & delivery & for as long as needed after the baby has been born.
They indeed are doing what you recommend in your homily/blog post & I encourage everyone to support these & other similar pro-life organizations dedicated to helping women in crisis pregnancies to choose life.