Word to the Wise
Wednesday, January 22, 2025 - Wednesday in the 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
[Heb 7:1-3, 15-17 and Mark 3:1-6]"Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" [Mark]
Where does one "draw the line" on religious observance - especially if one feels that one may be drawing a line in front of God? For the Pharisees in the synagogue on the occasion recounted in today's gospel believed that sabbath observance was a commandment given by God to Moses - one of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. This meant no "work." Their interpretation of this prohibition could be quite strict and inclusive. No cooking, no healing, no farm work. Jesus' healing on the sabbath was scandalous and sinful to the religious authorities. We are told at the end of today's episode that "the Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death!" Jesus' healing seemed to them to be an attack on the whole system of faith and observance that had been established for ages by God.
Catholics of my generation ("Baby Boomers") grew up with the prohibition against doing "servile work" on Sunday. Of course that led to all kinds of casuistry about what constituted "servile work." Did that include Mardi Gras parades or Little League sports events? Is Sunday to be limited to going to Mass? What about the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill?" in many secular societies, including the USA, where the unborn child has less legal protection than the most violent criminal!" Can we draw a line in front of God and declare a conceived but unborn child a "nonperson!" and therefore disposable? Which life is sacred? If we have to ask that question, we are in trouble already! The irony of the scene in today's gospel is that the Pharisees are plotting to violate one of the Ten Commandments (Thou shalt not kill!) in order to enforce another (Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day.) Faith must not be separated from wisdom and common sense, but provide the light by which wisdom and common sense are to be applied to the serious challenges that human life must confront. AMEN