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Saturday – Twenty-second Week – OT2
Readings: 1 Cor 4:6b-15; Lk 6:1-5.
1/ Reading I: RSV 1 Corinthians 4:6 brethren, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. 7 For who sees anything different in you? What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift? 8 Already you are filled! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! 9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the off scouring of all things. 14 I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers; for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
2/ Gospel: RSV Luke 6:1 On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grain fields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3 And Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” 5 And he said to them, “The Son of man is lord of the Sabbath.”
I. THEME: To endure sufferings for the Gospel.
People can endure sufferings and sacrifice their time and efforts for success, power, fame and material benefits; but what is the motivation for those who sacrificed for the sake of Gospel? Many Christians are criticized as fools, working with no benefits.
Today readings help us to recognize the motivations which push the faithful to work for the sake of the Gospel. In the first reading, St. Paul confessed the only reason that made him to be a fool for Christ is for people to recognize Christ’s love for them and to believe in him. In the Gospel, Jesus protected his disciples by reminding the scribes and the Pharisees that they shouldn’t keep the law for the sake of the law; but to keep the Sabbath for their bodily and spiritual benefits.
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ Reading I: The motivations that helped St. Paul to endure sufferings:
1.1/ To suffer for Christ’s sake: Like all prophets of the Old Testament, once they accepted to be God’s prophets, they must suffer to announce God’s messages; Christ’s disciples must endure the same fate. They must endure all sufferings and trial to preach Christ’s Gospel. The reason for it is because the world doesn’t always accept the truths and the lifestyle according to the Gospel. St. Paul’s life is an illustration. He must endure all kinds of sufferings for Christ’s sake as he wrote, “For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake.”
But his sufferings are not meaningless because he believed that if he shared in Christ’s suffering, he shall also share in Christ’s glory in his Father’s kingdom.
1.2/ To suffer for others’ salvation: Beside the hope for future glory, sufferings also benefit others right on this life. For examples, the missionaries’ efforts sow the seed of faith in those who don’t believe in God; their poured-out blood help the seed of faith to bear fruits for believers, their family and the local church. St. Paul listed out some of his sufferings to remind the faithful to value what he has done for them, “We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the off scouring of all things.”
Like parents who are constantly worried and tiredly work and educate their children, St. Paul also considered him as the spiritual father of his faithful. Therefore, he wasn’t hesitated to accept all sacrifices and sufferings with the hope that his spiritual children are grown in faith and enjoyed countless benefits through their faith in Christ. He confessed, “I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers; for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
2/ Gospel: The law of the Sabbath is to serve people.
2.1/ Jesus’ disciples were accused of violating the Sabbath: The Gospel reports, “On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grain fields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?””
According to the Jewish tradition, the Sabbath has its origin on the Book of Genesis. After God finished His creation in six days, He rests on the Sabbath and commands people to also rest on that day. Why did God command people to rest on the Sabbath? There are two main reasons:
(1) For people to rest after six days of hard working: God is the One Who created people; He knows people’s limit and wants them to have time to rest. Resting is needed not only for people, but also for animal, trees and land, so all can effectively work and bear fruits. If people don’t rest, they shall be very tired, get sick and not have good results by constant working.
(2) For people to develop their spiritual life: People are the combination of soul and body. On the Sabbath, when the body is rested, the soul needs to be nourished by the spiritual food, such as: hearing God’s word and receiving Christ’s body, to increase the soul’s strength. If people don’t know how to use the Sabbath properly, they shall overwork or waste their time on useless recreations, so not only their body is dead tired but their soul is also hungry of the spiritual food. The Jewish tradition uses the Sabbath to learn Scripture and to pray in the synagogues.
The Sabbath laws are made for these two purposes, not aiming at the tedious questions such as: what can or can’t be done on this day. All the tedious laws were added later by human beings.
2.2/ Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees: The Sabbath’s law isn’t absolute; there are some exceptional cases which can be dispensed:
(1) For people who are so poor: The Church permits those who are so poor and need to work on Sunday to earn their food. Jesus also mentioned a case when people must eat even the forbidden food to protect their life, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” What Jesus’ disciples must do on the Sabbath to protect their life is legal on the Sabbath while the Pharisees accused them of working because they “plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands.”
(2) The Sabbath’s law isn’t applied for God: Jesus declared to them, “The Son of man is lord of the Sabbath.” Though God rests from creation, but He still controls all things in the universe. He controls it by His wise providence, and His wisdom is Christ, the Word. Jesus has a reason to declare, “The Son of man is lord of the Sabbath.”
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– We should be ready to suffer for Christ’s sake for we believe that we shall also share in his eternal glory.
– We should be ready to suffer for others to live, as Christ teaches us, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12:24).
– We shouldn’t imitate the scribes and the Pharisees to find faults in others, but to help them to grow in love for others and to protect common goods.