Posted by The WORD in other words (2006) by Frater Cirilo Boloron SVD – Austria
Friday 30th Week in Ordinary Time
There is a story about a liturgy professor in one of the seminaries here in Austria who often got into trouble with his confreres because of his extremely rigid and somewhat outdated approach to the liturgy. When he celebrated Mass, he followed literally what was written in the liturgical books and allowed no room for flexibility or creativity. Whenever he saw other priests who did not do the same, he easily became upset and angry. Worse still, he became selective about attending Mass depending on who the main celebrant was.
Today’s Gospel reading presents us with a similar situation. It reminds us that religion and religious laws are intended to help us become good and holy. If we fail to discern their true meaning and purpose, however, they can create conflict within us rather than lead us closer to God.
Jesus shows the scholars of the law and the Pharisees that there is something more important than a rigid observance of the law: the human person. When Jesus heals a suffering man on the Sabbath, he asks them, “Is it lawful to cure people on the sabbath, or not?”(Luke 14:3). His action reminds us of his teaching elsewhere: “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27).
The fact that Christ came and offered his own life on the cross so that we might be saved from death and receive eternal life shows how precious the human person is in the eyes of God. As Scripture tells us, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16). Thus, our respect for religious laws should never make us lose sight of the dignity and value of the person whom God loves.
