Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
Blessings often come upon us in an unpredictable fashion. Sometimes blessings are almost unperceivable in nature such as the air we breathe or the clean water we have to drink. Sometimes blessings come through something we do such as staying at adoration for one more hour to say a rosary we hadn’t counted upon, only to be enlightened by a deep spiritual insight. Sometimes blessings come through something we don’t do; such as leaving later to go to work, only to realize that your normal commute might have placed you at the scene of an accident in which you may have been included. Blessings are all around us if we are attentive.
In our readings today, the blessings are given to the men in the stories. For Abraham, the blessings came first in the form of victory in battle against the kings. The primary focus of this reading from Hebrews is the literal blessing he received from the priest Melchizedek. In return for the priestly blessing, Abraham apportioned a tenth of everything to Melchizedek. This grateful giving could be seen as a blessing both for Melchizedek and Abraham. Yet, the real point of this reading is that Jesus is a blessing for us all as he is “a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Heb. 7:17)
The blessing of Jesus was certainly unexpected for the man in today’s gospel known as the one with withered hand. As Jesus entered the synagogue all eyes were on him. The Pharisees were looking for a blessing from Jesus. All they needed to incriminate Jesus was to have him heal someone on the Sabbath. The man with the withered hand got an incredible blessing. As he stretched out his hand, it was restored.
What in us is withered and in need of restoration? Do we need to be healed physically or is there some part of our spirit that needs stretched? Perhaps we are looking for blessings in someone else’s failure. If this is the case, we need our pharisaical vision purified. No matter what the case, spend some time standing in the Lord’s presence today and allow Jesus to be unexpected blessing.
-Michael Montgomery