First Reading - Romans 8:12-17
Gospel - Luke 13:10-17
In the first reading, Paul speaks about our special relationship with God. He stresses that we are given the Spirit of God whereby we share in the sonship of God. It's the gift of the Spirit that unites us to God, hence we can call out to God as our father. Paul further speaks that we are adopted by God as sons and daughters in the Spirit.
The gospel underlines the concern of Jesus for the people.The healing of the woman possessed by an evil spirit points out the loving concern of Jesus for those who were under the clutches of satanic forces or evil. The healing sparks anger of the synagogue official because of the violation of the Sabbath law. This gives occasion for Jesus to impart a key lesson on human dignity. The law of Sabbath was at times overemphasized to the extent of neglecting human dignity. Jesus tries to correct the overemphasis of the observance of the Sabbath. He urges that human dignity is to be held in priority because every human person is the son and daughter of God. That's why Jesus mentions about the woman that 'she is also the daughter of Abraham' which means to say that she enjoys the privilege of honour and dignity. Jesus poses a question that even stringent Sabbath finds exception for animals like ox and donkey, how much more should be the exceptions applied for the human being who is in need? This question certainly surprises all.
Dear friends, we enjoy the privilege of being called the sons and daughters of God. What a privilege and honour! The first reading underlines that this honour is bestowed on us by the Spirit of God who unites us to God as sons and daughters. We, as Christians, enjoy the gift of the Spirit in a special way through our baptism. This gift needs to be reinforced everyday by our spiritual exercises. It's through our prayers our closeness to God is strengthened.
The gospel also mentions a very relevant problem of our time, the problem of utilitarianism or materialism etc. These problems degrade the human dignity as such mentalities look down upon human beings or treat human beings as product rather than people with dignity. The gospel underlines that every person should enjoy dignity and honour as Jesus himself exhibits this by healing the woman. We need to root out every such belief that denigrate human dignity so that we all will be able to enjoy the freedom of living our lives with dignity and as sons and daughters of God.
May God help us see all our fellow brothers and sisters with dignity and love.
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