Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Gospel Reading: Matthew 12:1-8

Jesus was going through a field of grain on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the Sabbath." He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. 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."

What is Jesus trying to tell us?  We no longer need to keep holy the Sabbath.  Jesus’ disciples were chastised by the Pharisees for not keeping the Sabbath. According to Jewish Law, the Sabbath was set aside as a time of rest and the Jews were not to do any work or labor. Today, conservative Jews take this day very seriously. They go as far as to even limit the number of steps one takes, everything they eat on this day is prepared the day before and they go to great lengths not to expend any labor. The elevators are set to stop on every floor so they don’t even have to push a button.  While this may seem extreme, they believe this is what God commanded them to do.  However, Jesus is telling them this is not what His Father had in mind.  This day was set aside to honor the greatness of God’s creation. In the gospel story, the disciples were hungry and therefore were harvesting and eating corn. This action was forbidden on this day. Jesus explains that these actions are not in violation of the Sabbath and that when men are hungry, it is okay for them to eat. Jesus says that God “desires mercy, not sacrifice.” He is telling the Jews while the ritual of the Sabbath is important, compassion for man’s basic human needs are more important. Jesus was trying to tell the Jews that they were missing the truly important meaning of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is truly about honoring the greatness of God’s creation. If we allow God’s creation to suffer on this day, then are we really honoring this day. If God is Love, them would God want his servants to starve when food was sitting right in front of them?  If we see a person who is hungry, should we not feed them? Allowing him to starve would be dishonoring this day. Feeding our fellow man shares the love and compassion that God shared with us through his Son.

But have we gone too far in the opposite direction.  Modern Christians have lost the meaning of honoring the Sabbath. Stores are now open on Sundays. Most of us work on Sundays or are involved in activities that take us away from the greatness of this day. Many Catholic Christians do not even go to Mass anymore or Mass is second to all the other activities in our lives. We are so busy that we forget the importance of this day. We are still called to keep holy the Sabbath day. This is still one of the commandments. Dishonoring this commandment is a sin. This means that we are called to rest and to reflect on this day. We are to go to church, to pray and give thanks for all the things that God has given us. Many of us are so busy that this day goes on like any other day. We should take the time on this day to cherish what God has given us. We need to take time to smell the roses. We should celebrate the graces that God has bestowed upon us. We should spend time with our family and most importantly, we should spend time with Christ thanking him for the sacrifice he made to save our souls.

A Simple Prayer

 

Lord God, thank you for all of creation.

Thank you for the mountains and thank you for the seas and the oceans.

Thank you for all the living creatures on this earth.

Give me the wisdom to know the Sabbath and to honor it.

 

Yours in Christ

Michael Marcon