Saturday September 4

TWENTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

THE LAW HAS TO SERVE PEOPLE

Introduction

      Paul reminds his Colossians that before their conversion they were estranged from God. Now that they have been reconciled with God and one another, they should remain

      A frequent sign of their own insecurity is that people seek security in laws and traditions. The more they insist on these, the more they try to bend people to these, the greater their insecurity. Laws are supposed to be in the service of the community, not vice versa. They may never become a block or a screen between people. They are not absolutes but servants of people.

 

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
Jesus your Son came not to abolish the law
but to fill it with the dimensions of love.
Do not allow commandments and rules
to stand between you and us nor between people,
but let them lead us gently,
as good educators, to you and to our neighbor
and teach us to go beyond the law
in generosity and serving love.
Make us free with the freedom brought us
by your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Reading 1: Col 1:21-23

Brothers and sisters:
You once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds;
God has now reconciled you
in the fleshly Body of Christ through his death,
to present you holy, without blemish,
and irreproachable before him,
provided that you persevere in the faith,
firmly grounded, stable,
and not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard,
which has been preached to every creature under heaven,
of which I, Paul, am a minister.

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 54:3-4, 6 and 8

(6) God himself is my help.
O God, by your name save me,
and by your might defend my cause.
O God, hear my prayer;
hearken to the words of my mouth.
R. God himself is my help.
Behold, God is my helper;
the Lord sustains my life.
Freely will I offer you sacrifice;
I will praise your name, O LORD, for its goodness.
R. God himself is my help.

 

Alleluia: Jn 14:6

Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father except through me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: Lk 6:1-5

While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath,
his disciples were picking the heads of grain,
rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.
Some Pharisees said,
“Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Have you not read what David did
when he and those who were with him were hungry?
How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering,
which only the priests could lawfully eat,
ate of it, and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”

 

Intercessions

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

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

–   That we may seek security in love of God and the service of people, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

God our Father,
in these signs, your gifts to us
and the fruit of our work,
we make ourselves available to you.
Do not allow us to seek false security
in observing the letter of the law
but help us to seek the insecurity and risk
of committing ourselves to you and people,
as Jesus did, your Son,
who lives with you and with us
now, and we hope and pray, for ever.

 

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
in this eucharist we have celebrated
the memorial of your Son’s death and rising.
He followed the law of the heart
and made love the heart of all laws.
Let the bread of life of your Son
make our love inventive and creative
in the service of people
and help us to follow the directives
of our hearts and consciences,
in the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
your Son and our Lord for ever.

 

Blessing

Christ has made us free. Let us not give up that freedom by slavishly sticking to practices and traditions that do not reflect the gospel. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

Paul’s injunction to the Colossians today can well be applied to all of us. We were initially alienated from God, but through the death of Christ we have been reconciled in order to be presented holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before him. We need but persevere in the faith, well-grounded and not slipping away from the hope of the gospel. It is this latter injunction that causes us con­cern. In the midst of so many secular, even pagan, values today, it is not easy to remain firmly grounded. We all know people, some­times those close to us, who have abandoned the faith.

That the apostles were plucking and eating some of the grain on the Sabbath strikes us as being very irrelevant. Jesus engages in a little casuistry in citing the example of David taking the bread from the sanctuary on the Sabbath. Then he cites the main reason for the dispensation from the law, something his opponents would never accept. Jesus was lord of the Sabbath.

Jesus was not concerned about minutiae. As Paul states so clearly, what is important is to stay in the friendship of Christ. It is not that easily lost. Some people will confess missing Mass on a Sunday when there were perfectly valid reasons for doing so. A mature Christian knows when sin is present and when it is not. It makes little sense for us to wrestle with our conscience over non­issues. Ours is a gracious God, not a taskmaster.

 

Points to Ponder

The crucified Christ and our new life

Mature decision making Jesus as

Lord of the Sabbath.