Daily Retreat 01/17/07
2007 Jan 17 Wed: Anthony, ab M
Heb 7: 1-3. 15-17/ Ps 109(110): 1. 2. 3. 4/ Mk 3: 1-6
From today’s readings: “He remains a priest forever.... The LORD has sworn, and He will not repent.... Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath? ”
A Simple Choice
Yesterday’s Gospel theme of Sabbath observance is revisited today with the Lord’s penetrating question: “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” Presented this way as a simple choice between two alternatives, Jesus’ remark couches a significant insight: omission of a good act furthers the tide of evil, and refusal to save life contributes to its destruction.
The Sabbath, and the whole of God’s law, can thus never be invoked as an excuse to neglect the duty to defend life or other timely good deeds. Quite the opposite - God prescribes Sabbath rest and the moral compass of His revelation precisely to help us do the right thing at the right time - always!
Keeping the Lord’s day holy therefore entails spending time scrutinizing our past attitudes and habits and resolving to address our own hardness of heart that may have made us resist or reject any of the Lord’s teachings and His way of doing the right thing at the right time, always.
Heb 7: 1-3. 15-17/ Ps 109(110): 1. 2. 3. 4/ Mk 3: 1-6
From today’s readings: “He remains a priest forever.... The LORD has sworn, and He will not repent.... Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath? ”
A Simple Choice
Yesterday’s Gospel theme of Sabbath observance is revisited today with the Lord’s penetrating question: “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” Presented this way as a simple choice between two alternatives, Jesus’ remark couches a significant insight: omission of a good act furthers the tide of evil, and refusal to save life contributes to its destruction.
The Sabbath, and the whole of God’s law, can thus never be invoked as an excuse to neglect the duty to defend life or other timely good deeds. Quite the opposite - God prescribes Sabbath rest and the moral compass of His revelation precisely to help us do the right thing at the right time - always!
Keeping the Lord’s day holy therefore entails spending time scrutinizing our past attitudes and habits and resolving to address our own hardness of heart that may have made us resist or reject any of the Lord’s teachings and His way of doing the right thing at the right time, always.
posted by FrPitstick | 1/16/2007
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