Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
(I Samuel16:1-13; Mark 2:23-28)
Orthodox Jews celebrate every Sabbath as if it were
Christmas Day for Christians. No one
does any work. People go to the
synagogue to hear the word of God with comments by a well-educated rabbi. Families
come together to talk, eat, perhaps sing, and play together. It is a day to
imagine what heaven will be like.
Jesus, a good Jew, also celebrated the Sabbath. By no means did he want to forbid its rituals,
joys, and demands. But he does see the
need at times to dispense with some of the rules. In today’s gospel he tells the Pharisees that
because his disciples need to eat, he gives them permission to pick grain on
the Sabbath.
Christians have transferred the Sabbath from the seventh day
to the first day of the week. But we are
urged not to let go of the religious, celebrative, or communal nature of the
day. For us Sunday is the day of the new
creation. We have been remade, free from
sin and destined for eternal life. Contemplating
what this means is an activity worthy of the Sabbath.
