Tuesday January 19

Second Week In Ordinary Time

 

LAWS ARE SERVANTS OF PEOPLE     

 

Introduction

      Our firm hope, the anchor of our faith, is that God made Jesus our high priest according to the order of Melchizedek, a statement rather obscure for us, which Paul will explain further. In any case, our faith is based on the word of God and of Christ.

      The function of laws is to order relationships within the community so as to safeguard the rights of God and of the people around us, and to make us aware of our social responsibilities. Yet experience tells us that it is a perpetual human temptation to turn laws into absolutes, to make people servants of the law rather than the law a servant of people. Jesus reminds us of the priority of people and the human community over the letter of the law.

 

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
it is easier for us to seek safety
in observing laws and customs
than to be personally responsible
for the people around us
and to serve you with the freedom of love.
Give us a bit of your own fantasy,
send us the Holy Spirit to fill us
with your own inventive and creative love,
that we may ever seek new ways
to reach out to you and to one another.
Grant this through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

 

Reading 1: Heb 6:10-20

Brothers and sisters:
God is not unjust so as to overlook your work
and the love you have demonstrated for his name
by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones.
We earnestly desire each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness
for the fulfillment of hope until the end,
so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who,
through faith and patience, are inheriting the promises.

When God made the promise to Abraham,
since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,
and said, I will indeed bless you and multiply you.
And so, after patient waiting, Abraham obtained the promise.
Now, men swear by someone greater than themselves;
for them an oath serves as a guarantee
and puts an end to all argument.
So when God wanted to give the heirs of his promise
an even clearer demonstration of the immutability of his purpose,
he intervened with an oath,
so that by two immutable things,
in which it was impossible for God to lie,
we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged
to hold fast to the hope that lies before us.
This we have as an anchor of the soul,
sure and firm, which reaches into the interior behind the veil,
where Jesus has entered on our behalf as forerunner,
becoming high priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 111:1-2, 4-5, 9 and 10c

(5) The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
in the company and assembly of the just.
Great are the works of the LORD,
exquisite in all their delights.
R.  The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has won renown for his wondrous deeds;
gracious and merciful is the LORD.
He has given food to those who fear him;
he will forever be mindful of his covenant.
R. The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has sent deliverance to his people;
he has ratified his covenant forever;
holy and awesome is his name.
His praise endures forever.
R. The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
or:
R.  Alleluia.

 

Alleluia: Eph 1:17-18

Alleluia, alleluia.
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our hearts,
that we may know what is the hope
that belongs to our call.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: Mk 2:23-28

As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath,
his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.
At this the Pharisees said to him,
“Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
He said to them,
“Have you never read what David did
when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?
How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest
and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat,
and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them,
“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

 

Intercessions:

–         That Christians may regard the commandments as doors to freedom from sin and evil and as ways to serve God and people, we pray:

–         That lawmakers everywhere make laws that are humane and serve the good of all, we pray:

–         That Sunday may be for us a special occasion to grow in love of those who are dear to us, to visit the sick and to serve the needy, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

God our Father,
you let the sun shine and the rain fall
over the fields sowed by the farmer
to satisfy his hunger with bread and rice.
Alleviate our hunger
for goodness and love and things that last
with the bread of eternal life,
Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord,
who lives with you and with us,
now and for ever.

 

Prayer after Communion

God our Father,
we turn our laws and even yours
into absolutes by which we imprison
ourselves and others.
And then, you give us yourself in your Son
to remind us that what counts is
how we live for you and for one another
and share ourselves with each other.
Let this Eucharist fill us
with the mentality of your Son,
that we may be present to one another
with a liberating love.
For you have set us free from all servitude
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

 

Blessing

Laws are made for people, not people for laws. This applies also to God’s laws. They are guidelines, helps for people, not instruments of oppression. May Almighty God bless you and help you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

It happens all the time among siblings in our homes. How often have we come across kids running up to their parents, so innocent-looking, but to complain that one of their sisters or brothers has done this or that or has broken some unwritten rules of the house? Imagine the Pharisees in today’s Gospel, having that similar innocent looks as they confront Jesus, because Jesus’ disciples have plucked and chewed some grain of wheat on the Sabbath. As “paparazzi”, they spied on Christ, to see what he did, when he did it and how he did it.
“The disciples broke the rules! Why?! They’re in BIG trouble.”

How often we hear arguments in our church communities that this or that group is using the Church premises or properties, and perhaps we should stop them from using it! It is not because they have any special advantage by preventing someone from using the Church space that they object it or complain about it. I suspect some people find some sort of happiness in getting others into trouble and that’s the only reason for their complains.

Somehow, I can’t point my fingers at the Pharisees of today’s Gospel. Their behaviour reminds me of the part of my wrong self — the part of me that tries to catch someone else doing something wrong, the part of me that plays “got you” kind of attitudes. The part of me that would consider myself better than the rest. It’s the part of me that would make a big noise over some guys plucking and chewing grain as they stand in a field on the Sabbath.

But Jesus uses the criticism by the Pharisees as an opportunity to talk about God’s love for us. The Sabbath is a gift of God and not a burden imposed upon us. The person is more important than the norm, when it comes to things that affect dignity and survival. It is up to us to carry it out, in our daily life. Be like Jesus, attentive to needs of one another.

By the way, before being “paparazzi” of our brothers, let us remember the words of Saint Francis de Sales: “Before judging our neighbor, let us put him in our place and ourselves in his, and surely our judgment will then be right and charitable. “

Remember, when we are about to point our finger in criticism or blame, the Lord calmly reminds us that we are being silly and boring. The funny thing about it is that it does not take the wisdom of the ages to see through such petty behaviour. All it takes is developing a habit of stopping and thinking for a moment before I open my mouth!