The Catholic Calendar for Friday, July 21, 2006
The Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
St. Lawrence of Brindisi, priest and doctor of the Church

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8
Isaiah 38:10-12abcd, 16
Matthew 12:1-8

A reflection on today's Scripture . . . .

“I say to you, something greater than the temple is here." (Matthew 12:6)

Today's readings all center on God's righteous mercy. Hezekiah, faithful and devout, learned he was terminally ill, but rather than preparing to die, he prayed fervently for healing. In response God granted him fifteen more years of life, since to God all things are possible. If the ill approach Him in sincere prayer, He may or may not heal them; in either case, He does what is best for the individual soul and those souls closest to Him. Our finite minds cannot fathom His purposes, but we can rely on His Spirit of grace remaining close by, ready to forgive repented sin and comfort and strengthen all those suffering.

God ministers to man in both body and spirit. This is seen in our second reading in which Hezekiah prays a hymn of thanksgiving. The bitterness he once felt at the prospect of his soul being consigned to the nether world, never to see God, was dispelled. God, in His righteous mercy, forgave his sins, and in this knowledge Hezekiah's spirit was revived to new life. God's purpose is to sanctify and save all souls, not condemn them.

Interestingly, our Gospel finds the Pharisees reviling the Apostles for breaking the Sabbath rule of doing no labor. That these men were very hungry but had no other food apart from their reaping and eating some grain heads did not matter to these "experts" in the law. Jesus defends them with examples from Scripture and reminds the Pharisees that the temple priests are called to perform many servile duties on the Sabbath. Again we see that God desires to minister to all of man's needs. In the above quotation, Christ asserts that He is God come to them in human flesh and is therefore "Lord of the Sabbath." It is God's merciful love that should inspire our sacrifices, not the blind following of empty rules.

Father of all wisdom, inspire us to compassion toward all. Make us see that we should not judge others, for You alone know our true needs and the motivation of our hearts. Amen.

- Marie Bocko, OCDS
(mlbocko at earthlink dot net)

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