Friday of 30th Week, uneven numbered year “Now it happened that on a Sabbath day he had gone to share a meal in the house of one of the leading Pharisees ; and they watched him closely.”
There are many episodes where Jesus reproaches the pharisees as hypocrites. Our God shows to us in a remarkable way just to what extent he despises false apparences, vain deceitful ways, so far from the praise he gave to Nathanael : ’Behold a true Israelite without any deception about him.’ God loves simplicity of the heart, uprightousness, a straight mind, and he rejects energeticaly anything that is complicated, any dark looks,two-facednesss, hypocricy. It is in the Jewish people that God wanted to shine forth all the love he bore abundantly for humanity. Jeuss went into the home of a leader of the Pharisees to take his meal with him , but a man struck down with illness, a disabled man, bowls him over, and Pharisees were there, observing him. ’Can we take our meal in joy, singing God’s praises, and be truely happy when a poor man suffers next to us? Jesus is at the party, this man has to be there too! It is the mystery of love that Jesus came to announce from now on this love will be alive and will act in the Church.
“Now there in front of him was a man with dropsy , and Jesus adressed the lawyers and the Pharisees with the words: ’Is it lawful or not to cure someone on the Sabbath day?’ But they remained silent, so he took the man and cured him and sent him away.”
We pay great attention to the question Jesus makes to the Pharisees : ’Is it allowed, yes or no, to heal on the Sabbath day?’ and ’they kept quiet.’ The silent response the Pharisees have when questioned by Jesus shows that ,Jdeep down they have a bad conscience. In front of them was lying a sick man who wanted to be healed by Jesus.They are scandalised by Christ’s attitude as they wish to accomplish the Jewish Law right down to the letter, not its spirit. They are also proud, presumptious, believing that their behaviour is irreproachable. For Christ is pushed by his Merciful heart and he doesn’t want to be tied down by formal laws, he wants to heal the sick. So he takes the sick man, heals him and sends him away. Here we see the attachment of Jesus for
the whole of humanity made manifest in this love for all of his people! The Church takes its roots in humanity saved by Christ. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the masterpiece of the whole of Creation. ’He took flesh of the Virgin Mary’ The people of Israel, to whom God revealed himself as the God of Love, is loved by his God. It is in this people that God wanted to see all the love shine forth, all this love he bore abundantly for humanity. We celebrate the new covenant that is inscribed in the former covenant.
“Then he said to them, ’Which of you here, if his son falls into a well, or his ox, will not pul him out on the Sabbath day without any hesitation?’ And to this they could not find any answer”
And they didn’t have a reply to this. The Pharisees realise that their behaviour is not justified and this is why they remain silent. We learn from this passage how necessary it is to be enraptured with Jesus to this extent in order to enter into the holiness which consists in following him as far as this. The commandments are holy because they come from the Infinite Wisdom of God. Let us let the Virgin Mary’s delightful simplicity reign in our lives. The Word of God and the psalms are our treasure and they are pertinent still today. So we understand the love that Jesus has for his people. The Gospel comes and confirms the love that is given to us and that we have for the people who are poor, the privileged people of God. And so Jesus adresses the word to the doctors of the law so as to make them go further along the road towards the Kingdom of Love. Jesus wants us to approach this Infinite Love of God in our lives with a limpid gaze,and a clear conscience. When we celebrate the Paschal mystery, the Jewish passover is in the background and it gives a special light on the liberation that we celebrate in the mystery of the Eucharist.