Saturday – 22nd Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel - Luke 6:1-5

Have A Little Heart!

Fields of Plenty, near Gaza Strip

Have you ever read or seen Les Miserables?  Simply Jean Valjean is sent to prison for stealing bread to feed his starving family. Cruel and heartless!  Yes I know, stealing is wrong but aren’t there some exceptions, some times when basic human needs outweigh the law?

The Apostles, in today’s Gospel, are caught picking grain on the Sabbath.  The law is clear: no work on the Sabbath and picking grain qualifies as work, even if you are hungry.  Kind of reminds me of picking huckleberries in the woods behind our house when we were kids.  Jesus reminds the Pharisees that there have been exceptions to the rule in the past, particularly King David when he and his men ate bread that was set aside only for the priests.  And He tries to teach them that God is not just a Lawgiver but a loving parent.  Is it any wonder then that we celebrate today the Feast Day of Mother Teresa of Calcutta We all know that to be true!  We all grew up with rules from our parents and discipline when we faltered.  For those of us who are parents, there were certainly times when our child broke a rule and yet they were so heartbroken and devastated by it that any punishment from us would have been counter-productive.  How could we discipline them any more than they were punishing themselves?  So what did we do?  We forgave them, we loved them. God reminds us today that He is Our Father!  He is a loving, forgiving Parent.  Yes, of course there are rules to follow.  But through it all, God is merciful and loving and compassionate

We all need that day of rest, probably more a week or even a month of rest, a break from the work-a-day world, time to catch our breath, collect our thoughts, even energize our spiritual batteries.  Perhps this Labor Day weekend is a good time to do just that.  But God reminds us today that even as we take our “Sabbath break” from work, we can never take a break from treating others with love and compassion!

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