Breaking the Word

15^th Week in Ord. Time, Saturday – 16^th July 2022 — Gospel: Mt 12,14-21

Foreshadow of Divine Meekness

The Pharisees conspired against Jesus because he healed a man with a withered arm on the Sabbath. The response of Jesus to this conspiracy is to withdraw from that place. However, Jesus does not withdraw to run away or from fear, but to continue the work of healing and making whole. This withdrawal is strength and not weakness. It explicates God’s way of dealing with human violence and plotting of destruction. Even as Jesus makes well, he does not want to be known or acclaimed and so commands those whom he has healed to remain silent about their healing. As humans, we are tempted to retaliate or seek popularity, instead we should do as Jesus does. He let the Pharisees be and turned to those who were receptive to him. This attitude of Jesus is called meekness. Meekness is the virtue that gives us the power to suppress our instinct to hate or harm another through control of our will. “We ought to be like lilies in the midst of thorns, which when they are pricked and pierced, never lose their sweet and gentle fragrance.” (St.Bernard)

15^th Week in Ord. Time, Friday – 15^th July 2022 — Gospel: Mt 12,1-8

Degree of love

In the controversy between Jesus and his opponents, Jesus cited two examples in defense of his disciples who were hungry and picked grain on the Sabbath. The first is that of David and his men who entered the temple and ate the sacred bread that had been set aside for the rituals of the priests. David’s procuring the bread was an act of compassion for his hungry followers that superseded the regulations of the temple. The second example is that of the priests of the temple who are required to perform certain duties on the Sabbath. Their obligations override the general law prescribing rest on the Sabbath. Again, Jesus expresses God’s will as expressed by the prophet Hosea, “It is mercy I desire, not sacrifice”. This means that in God’s eyes, the measure of our behaviour is not counted by our observance of the law but by the degree of love. In giving priority to the human need, Jesus does not disregard the law, but interprets it in a way that fulfills its God-given intent.