30th Week in Ord. Time, Monday – 25th October 2021 — Gospel: Lk 13,10-17
Inheritress Faithfulness
Jesus spoke of the crippled woman as “a daughter of Abraham.” Therefore, she was more precious in His eyes than the ox or ass about which He chided with the Pharisees. This title by which Jesus called her suggests that she was one of the inner circle of pious Israelites like Simeon, Anna (Lk 2,25-38) and Zacchaeus (Lk 19,9). Being a descendant of Abraham, she possessed his faith, and because of it, she was in the Lord’s house (synagogue) on the Lord’s day (Sabbath). As an inheritress of Abraham, she was in the right place to be healed. Although a firm believer of Yahweh, she was afflicted for a long time. However, her painful malady did not keep her from attending the synagogue. She hoped for ordinary blessings that will sustain her through daily struggles and so chose to remain in the synagogue for eighteen years. She kept moving on week by week, finding difficult to walk, difficult in finding a place to sit. However, her daily fidelity turned out to be an unexpected blessing on this sabbath. It is because, she accepted her sufferings and offered it to the Lord as sacrifice in this holy place. If she would have missed this Sabbath to come to God’s house, we would never remember her fidelity and the reward of blessings.
