Overview:

Monday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

A Reflection for Monday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Then Jesus said to them,
“I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath
rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
Looking around at them all, he then said to him,
“Stretch out your hand.” (Lk 6: 9-10)

Find today’s readings here.

How is this even a thing? I often find myself asking this question when we encounter in Scripture one of Jesus’ confrontations with the scribes and Pharisees. This time it’s over the little matter of a withered hand miraculously stretched free from paralysis and pain by Jesus’ literally healing words.

Could there really be some people, as the Gospel depicts those who are arguing with Jesus, so bogged down by the letter of whatever their current interpretation of the law is that they would object to an act of healing and mercy simply because it takes place on the Sabbath?

Surely the Good Lord above wouldn’t storm in fury over a good deed simply because it was done on the Sabbath? Why would these mere mortals feel it was their obligation to interfere, to condemn and deplore this expression of divine mercy and compassion?

But surely we all know rigid, self-confirmed and self-confident people, proud of their own Christian faith, who are ready with a line of Scripture meant to shame, limit or reduce someone, ready to offer a pious “told-you-so” instead of a human embrace and a shoulder to cry on.

Jesus does not ponder Sabbath limitations when confronted by human need. Maybe the lesson for us is to give ourselves license to do the same? To be heedless and generous in the face of contemporary needs and human suffering?

And even as the Gospel depicts the scribes and Pharisees as seeking a pretext to accuse Jesus, their reverence for the Sabbath says something we need to hear, too. We sure do congratulate ourselves these days about how unwilling we are to abide by biblical dictates and quaint Scripture-based restrictions on civic life.

Anybody out there remember “blue laws” and quiet, commerce-free days when communities shut down to observe the Sabbath? No? That’s because we have freely surrendered that option, and our corporate overlords have rushed in to take advantage of our spiritual and civic inattention. Woe is us.

How many of us take seriously now the expectation to preserve this day of rest, spiritual recuperation and restoration, to keep it holy for God and for ourselves?

Maybe the scribes and Pharisees had a little more wisdom than we are willing to admit. Whatever we might make of their arguments with Jesus, we can respect the desire to keep the Sabbath—which Jesus kept as well—both individually and communally.

So remember to keep holy the Sabbath, spend it with family and friends, in church and in prayer. And don’t worry, Jesus says it remains also a good day for a good deed or two.

Kevin Clarke is America’s chief correspondent and the author of Oscar Romero: Love Must Win Out (Liturgical Press).