Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
By Melanie Rigney
I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie; my conscience joins with the Holy Spirit in bearing me witness that I have great sorrow and constant anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh. They are children of Israel; theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. (Romans 9:1-5)
The Lord sends a command to earth; his word runs swiftly! (Psalms 147:15)
On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy. Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking,“Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?” But they kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him. Then he said to them “Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?” But they were unable to answer his question. (Luke 14:1-6)
Piety
Open my eyes, Jesus, to your presence in the people who embrace you… and those who do not yet know you.
Study
Do you know Christ when you see him?
The Israelites didn’t.
Paul despaired over Jesus’s rejection by his own people. The New American Bible notes on today’s first reading say Paul “would willingly undergo a curse himself for the sake of their coming to knowledge of Christ. His love for them derives from God’s continuing choice of them and from the spiritual benefits that God bestows on them and through them on all of humanity.”
The Pharisees didn’t.
Rather than embracing Jesus’s teaching or miracles, they couldn’t get past their love of their rules to discuss even the possibility that maybe, just maybe, it was all right to help someone who was suffering, even if it happened to be the Sabbath.
How did you react when Christ was present in your life today?
What did you say to that child who was singing or laughing too loudly for your taste?
What did you do when a co-worker who was making a presentation on a subject you know is her passion went past her allotted ten minutes?
What did you say when a friend asked for your help with something small that would have delayed fulfilling one of your own plans by a few minutes?
What did you do when you encountered a disoriented person on the street or sidewalk?
How did you react when Christ was present in your life today?
Action
Thank a friend who clearly sees more of Christ in you than you do in yourself. Ask him or her for assistance in recognizing Christ in a mutual acquaintance you find difficult to love.
