Monday of Week 23 Year 1

The institution of the Lord's Day is meant to help everyone enjoy adequate rest and leisure to cultivate their familial, cultural, social, and religious lives. However, some of us seem to be taking the Lord's Day as an opportunity to make a profit, especially since the Lord's Day is usually a non-working day, and more people could be around shopping. On the other hand, some people take advantage of rhe Lord's Day to avoid any form of work, even if the task is a charitable, merciful or compassionate one. Such persons fail to realise that, ultimately, the Lord's Day is meant for all to rest and to give glory to God in our worship and in the good that we do.

In today's Gospel, the scribes and the Pharisees had extreme views about the Sabbath. These folks were so extreme and stubborn that not a single thing could be done during the Sabbath. Even charitable, merciful or compassionate acts were forbidden to these scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus was amazed with their attitude, and He still went ahead to cure the man with the withered hand. As a result, these scribes and the Pharisees began to discuss the best way of dealing with Jesus, since what Jesus did was illegal or wrong in their distorted minds, and something needed to be done to stop Him from embarassing them further.

Sometimes we too could be like the scribes and the Pharisees. We fail to realise that at the end of the day, the Lord's Day is for us to grow in relationship with God and with others, while giving glory to God. Some of us have forgotten that what God wants is "mercy, not sacrifice." May we come to realise the real meaning and purpose of the Lord's Day, and give God the greater glory in our words and deeds.