Monday
of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
(Romans 8:12-17; Luke 13:10-17)
It’s a sin against the first commandment
to put one’s trust in another god, but does this mean that I cannot keep a
tiger tooth for good luck? It’s a sin
against the second commandment to take the Lord’s name in vain, but does this
mean that I sin by saying “Oh God” when I see something awesome? It’s a sin not to honor one’s father and
mother, but what am I to do when they tell me that they do not want to hear
from me again? These questionable
situations are similar to what Jesus faces in today’s gospel.
Apparently nothing in the Mosaic Law forbids
healing on the Sabbath. However, certain
Pharisees at the time of Jesus interpreted such an act as violating Sabbath
observance. Following such an
interpretation, the leader of the synagogue chastises the crowd for seeking cures
from Jesus. Knowing that the leader’s
criticism is an unsubstantiated interpretation, Jesus corrects him. He sees the Father’s activity among His
people as essentially liberating. He
knows that God’s hand freed the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and constantly
liberates the people from ignorance with the Law. So Jesus is only imitating his Father by
freeing the woman from a particularly gruesome malady.
It would be unfair to say that Jesus is
rationalizing his action. Again, the Law
does not expressly forbid Sabbath healing.
However, he is appealing to the people’s sense of justice and prudence
in interpreting the Law. Always, he
indicates, we have to use our intelligence aided by the virtues to determine
what the Lawgiver expects with any given statute.
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