Monday of the 30th week in ordinary time year A
Rom. 8:12-17 Luke 13:10-17
Theme: Guide against hypocrisy
In the gospel reading of today from St. Luke, Jesus shows us again the supremacy of the human person, over and above any man-made law. The ruler of the synagogue was not comfortable with the fact that Jesus healed the woman who was sick for the past 18 years, probably because it does not affect him directly. Jesus knowing them very well, presented to them the issue of untying their ox and they were all silenced. It is easy to condemn the action of the ruler of the synagogue, but some of us may be doing similar things in our personal lives.
He spoke out because it does not affect him directly, have there been moments in your life when you have kept quiet when you were supposed to speak out against injustice, just because you were not affected? Have there been situations in your life when you draw attention to issues that will be detrimental to other people, simply because it will not affect you directly? The assertion of Jesus is saying something to all of us as children of God, and it is challenging us to embrace a more selfless life that always takes the good of the other into consideration.
The woman that was healed by Jesus in today’s gospel is also the daughter of Abraham, so we should be celebrating the fact that Jesus has restored her to good health, not finding fault with the action of Jesus. The interesting thing is that Jesus understands them very well and he has the answer to always expose their hypocrisy. Remember, we are still dealing with the same God, he has not changed and cannot be deceived by anyone of us. Let us learn to celebrate and appreciate the good works of God in the lives of other people and they will equally do the same for us when our time comes.
Like St. Paul said in the 1st reading of today in his letter to the Romans, we are children of God and people of the spirit. The flesh no longer has power over us because we operate in the realm of the spirit. What this simply means is that we must always live a spiritual life that mirrors Christ, and have no place for any for of hypocrisy, as seen in the gospel reading of today. May the Lord bless his words in our hearts in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen. Peace be with you.