05 September, 2020. Saturday of Week 22
05 September, 2020. Saturday of Week 22
1st Reading: 1 Corinthians 4:6-15
By his his lifestyle and manner, Paul seeks to win back the loyalty of the Corinthians
I have applied all this to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brethren, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favour of one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift
Already you are filled! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honour, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless, and we labour, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the off-scouring of all things.
I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Responsorial: Psalm 53
R./: God himself is my help
O God, save me by your name;
by your power, uphold my cause.
O God, hear my prayer;
listen to the words of my mouth. (R./)
But I have God for my help.
The Lord upholds my life.
I will sacrifice to you with willing heart
and praise your name for it is good. (R./)
Gospel: Luke 6:1-5
Jesus defends his disciples for eating grain on the Sabbath
One sabbath while Jesus was going through the grain fields, his disciples plucked some heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and gave some to his companions?” Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”
Keeping the Sabbath
The sabbath greeting among Jews is Shabbath shalom! Literally this means “Sabbath Peace!” but it implies a prayer for fullness of life. Growing to this fullness cannot be achieved just by keeping a set of fixed rules. When accused that his disciples were breaking the sabbath, Jesus gave a common-sense answer, backed up by a Scriptural proof. His friends were plucking ears of grain and eating them, an action normally allowed on weekdays. But Jesus proves that it may also be done on the Sabbath by reminding them of when David and his men got special permission to eat the Temple bread, normally reserved for priests. Authentic keeping of the Law allowed for doing whatever was necessary.
Lord of the sabbath
For Jesus, there was nothing wrong in satisfying one’s hunger on the Sabbath day, especially for ordinary people like his disciples who lived a simple lifestyle. After defending his friends, he declares himself to be “Lord of the Sabbath”. Sunday is our Christian Sabbath, and on it any work which serves human needs is allowed. The challenge of the Sabbath is to try to do God’s work, by responding to the needs of others as Jesus did.