(Optional) Memorial of Saint Martin de Porres, religious
(Romans 9:1-5; Luke 14:1-6)
It was not a sabbath question, but it was one of a similar propriety
when healing. One day Brother Martin de
Porres found an old beggar in the street.
Because his body was full of sores, Martin carried the man into his own
bed at the priory where he lived. Martin
then nursed him back to health. Not
everyone judged Martin’s service an act of mercy. One fellow friar complained that it was disgusting. Martin replied to the criticism, “Compassion,
my dear brother, is preferable to cleanliness…I can easily clean sheets with a
little soap, but no torrent of tears could wash off my soul the stain that
would have been made there by any unkindness to the unfortunate.”
In today’s
gospel Jesus dismisses the criticism of the Pharisees with a similar
admonition. No one would be so inhumane
as to not pull a son or even an ox out of a cistern on the sabbath. Jesus would probably say that by all means, one
should follow the law. However, one is not
to be so rigid as to refuse exceptions where common sense applies.
Admittedly,
sometimes we have difficulty determining when common sense should be
applied. We are told never to lie, but if
lives are at stake, is it permitted? We pray
for discernment and also fortitude to do what is right despite the burden the
right thing entails.
