Word to the Wise
Tuesday, January 18, 2022 - Tuesday in the 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Sam 16:1-13 and Mark 2:23-28]"The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath." [Mark]
At one time in the past, I served as the "Promoter of Continuing Education" in my Dominican province. One of the duties of that position was to help brother friars who might be interested in a sabbatical year of study and self-enrichment. To my amazement, there were very few takers. Most of the brothers weren't interested in taking time off from their individual ministries. It would appear in our own time that many are not interested in taking the day off on the one divinely decreed "sabbatical" which is known as Sunday, or "sabbath." In Jesus' time, the "sabbath" (which would be Saturday in our calendar) was considered a sacred time. In the gospel scripture today, the zealous Pharisees criticized Jesus' disciples for "picking" grain, which was considered to be prohibited work. Jesus replied to the Pharisees that they were ignoring historical precedent (King David, no less) and a fundamental theological point. God made the sabbath to help people. The human person was created BEFORE the sabbath was created. So the sabbath was created for man, not man for the sabbath.
For many good Catholics, Sunday is given partially to worship, but largely to other activities. I still hear an occasional accusation in confession about doing "servile work" on Sunday, but that is usually from someone of my vintage, raised on the Baltimore Catechism. It seems to me that Sunday is our "date day" with God. The sabbath was created to allow us to have time with God and together as friends. Turning it into a workday or making worship an occasional thing is a bit like turning up our noses at a precious gift. Pope St. John Paul II wrote an entire encyclical just on this challenge (In Die Dominici).
The Pharisees had a point in defending the sabbath, but they had lost perspective on why the sabbath was created. Instead of an unyielding law, we have been given a great gift. Why can't we be better at accepting the gift of gathering with the God who enables us to do what we do the other six days? AMEN