Word to the Wise
Friday, July 19, 2024 - Friday in the 15th Week in Ordinary Time
[Isa 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8 and Matt 12:1-8]"If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath." [Matthew]
Jesus' response to the Pharisees in today's gospel passage was not the first time he reprimanded the Pharisees (and scribes) for their legalistic attitudes. When he chose Levi (Matthew) the tax collector as one of the apostles, he went to eat at Levi's house with other tax collectors and "sinners," which would have made him "unclean" in the eyes of the Pharisees and scribes. He responded with the same line about mercy over sacrifice. In today's gospel, human hunger necessitates taking grain for informal food on the sabbath, which would have constituted "work" in the eyes of the Pharisees. Jesus' points out that even the priests "work" on the sabbath. Last of all, Jesus points out that he is "Lord of the sabbath," meaning that he created the sabbath in the first place and can determine its meaning. Even so, he meets the Pharisees on their own ground by using examples from the past and present.
Legalism is not just a problem for canon lawyers. It can get into all kinds of Catholic life, including devotional activities when someone says that unless a devotion is done one particular way, it doesn't "count." Or, unless a person does or doesn't make a particular gesture at a particular time in the liturgy, they are not good Catholics. The matter gets more serious in the Sacrament of Reconciliation when a person gets worried about the "validity" of a past confession because they are second-guessing themselves. God's mercy goes beyond the rubrics and procedures, which may require doing something slightly different to meet a pastoral or true human need - not simply for convenience' sake, to be sure - but because mercy requires it. Jesus' image on another occasion describes the attitude of the Pharisees as "straining out the gnat and swallowing the camel." In some situations, a pastor or ordinary disciple must ask, "What would Jesus do in these particular circumstances?" AMEN