First Reading - 1 Corinthians 4:6-15
Gospel - Luke 6:1-5
The first reading is didactic in nature. Paul,ike a father to the community in Corinth, reprimands them for the disparity and rift created on account of some tracing who were allegiance to one of the apostles to show their superiority. Paul throws sarcasms to correct them that they are all bonded together in brotherhood. Therefore, it's Christ who is of great prominence among all. Paul invites the Christians to comprehend the role that he and others play to preach about the good news. Consequently, they too must base their life on the person of Christ and win the crown of glory in him.
Today’s Gospel passage gives Jesus’ teaching on the purpose of the Sabbath and on its proper observance. This was Jesus’ response to a criticism and a silly accusation made by some Pharisees against the apostles who, to satisfy their hunger on a Sabbath, had plucked ears of grain from a field for their snack, removed the husks by rubbing the grain between their palms and blowing away the chaff. The Pharisees accused them of violating Sabbath laws by performing three items of work forbidden on Sabbath, namely, harvesting, threshing and winnowing!
Jesus gives three counter-arguments from Holy Scripture defending the apostles. (1) Basic human needs, like hunger, take precedence over Divine worship and Sabbath observance. Jesus cites from Scripture the example of the hungry David and his selected soldiers. They approached Abimelech, the priest of Nob, who gave them for food the “offering bread” which only the priests were allowed to eat (1 Sm 21:1-6). (2) No law can stand against Divine worship. That is why the priests were not considered as violating Sabbath laws, although they did the work of preparing two rams for sacrifice in the Temple (Nm 28:9-10). (3) Jesus quotes the prophet Hosea to remind the accusers of God’s words: “I want mercy, not sacrifice” (Hos 6:6). Further augmenting the counter-arguments, Jesus, as Son of Man (a Messianic title), claims Lordship over the Sabbath itself.
Dear friends, it's possible that we can get entrapped with the rigidity of our lives, hence ignoring the essential things of our lives. Every Sunday observance for us is equal to Sabbath of Jews, which is meant to draw us closer to God and one another but sometimes our coming to the Church remains to the celebration of mass alone but fails to extend to one another. We manifest faith by observing the Sunday obligation but the purpose of it remains incomplete because the second part of it is ignored that is knowing and meeting our other fellow brothers and sisters.
The readings also invite us to never compromise with our faith we have received in Jesus because this gives us hope for our salvation in him. In the first reading, Paul addressing the problem in the community, tries to persuade Christians that the persons who brought faith to them are examples of faith in Jesus. Therefore, they should be motivated to imitate the gift of faith like them in all situations. It's this faith which leads us to observe our obligations to God and our fellow brothers and sisters.
The readings also teach us that it's God who should be acknowledged as the Lord of our lives. As St. Paul also exhorted the Christians to persevere in faith and make the person of Christ the matter of pride, which also means to give faith their primary place. Hence, our faith in Jesus should become the goal and the first choice of our lives.
May God guide and rule our lives.
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