Word to the Wise
Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - Wednesday in the 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
[Heb 7:1-3, 15-17 and Mark 3:1-6]WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017 ST. MARGARET OF HUNGARY, O.P. [Hebrews 7:1-3, 15-17 and Mark 3:1-6] Then [Jesus] said to the Pharisees: "Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" But they remained silent. Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, Jesus said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death. [Mark] The scene is set in a synagogue on the sabbath. The Law of Moses forbade any kind of "work" on the sabbath. Healing was considered "work." If someone was in mortal danger, one could act to save them, but the man in this scene was not in mortal danger. The issue is one of values. In the scene just before this one in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus declares himself, "Lord of the sabbath." In the scene today, he demonstrates what he means, but he incurs the enmity of the Pharisees who then do something they would not ordinarily do, talk with the hated Herodians. Jesus threatens all that the Pharisees stand for. The irony for the Pharisees is that they have destroyed the very law they wanted to protect because of their rigidity. By planning murder on the sabbath, they implicitly say that it is OK to do that kind of thing but not a good thing. Beginning with chapter two in the Gospel of Mark, there is a series of stories like this one that show opposition to Jesus from established religious interests which quickly escalates to lethal thoughts. This is not just a story about Jesus centuries ago. The gospel is not just a threat to established political and economic interests (as shown in the encyclicals of Popes John XXIII and his successors, especially Pope Francis), but also to established religious interests. The reaction to Pope Francis' documents in certain Catholic circles has been venomous. One can find it easily online. His "Joy of the Gospel," which describes the church as a field hospital for the sick and wounded; his "Laudato Si" encyclical on the obligation we all have to care for the earth, our "common home," and more recently, "Amoris Letitia" (The Joy of Love) on care of the family and those wounded by divorce - all of these have aroused both silent and vocal opposition. Pope Francis needs our prayers that his ministry of mercy, love and hope will continue despite the opposition of mostly well-intended but rigid and entrenched interests within our church. If he is the Vicar of Christ, then we should expect him to act like Christ, and not like some medieval potentate. AMEN
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