Gospel:
Luke 14:1-6
On a
sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the
people there were observing him carefully. In front of him there was a man
suffering from dropsy. Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in
reply, asking, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?”
But they
kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him.
Then he said to them “Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern,
would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?” But they were unable to
answer his question.
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Reflection:
Is the
observance of the Sabbath day wrong? No, nothing’s wrong with the observance of
the Sabbath day. It’s ok for the simple reason that it shows a person’s faithfulness
to his faith. The Sabbath observance becomes wrong when we prioritize it more
than our acts of mercy.
This is
the point that Jesus is driving at in the gospel towards the scholars of the
law and Pharisees. They are very strict with the observance of the Sabbath law.
They are very much willing to sacrifice almost everything so that they could strictly
observe it.
It’s not
wrong to violate sacred religious traditions for a greater need. For what is
the use of strictly observing religious tradition if we forego doing acts of
mercy? It doesn’t in anyway serve its intended purpose.
We
therefore have to be careful not to be overly legalistic in our observance of
our religious traditions. We should be more tolerant and understanding so that
we could bring more people closer to Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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