Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel sent me down memory lane. Growing up in the sixties, Sunday was always set aside for Church and family. For us, a really special part was knowing Dad would be home the entire day. On summer afternoons he would take us—all nine of us loaded in a station wagon—to get ice cream. It was the most treasured day of the week. When my own kids were growing up, things were a bit different. In the early years, I often worked at the hospital on weekends or my husband was traveling and then an occasional school commitment. Nowadays, Sunday can look like any other day of the week. It doesn’t happen overnight but, over time, the little encroachments get bigger and the rationalizations become easier. Whenever I’ve fallen short of ‘keeping holy the Lord’s Day’, I realize I have also ignored a ‘whisper’ or a ‘tug of heart. This always reminds me it is not the ‘law’ I am ignoring. It is Jesus.
Today, in the passage from Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath. He notices a woman afflicted by a ‘spirit’ that has left her crippled for many years and heals her. The leaders protest declaring it a violation of the law to cure on the Sabbath. Jesus denounces this charging that even the basic care of animals is not restricted by laws of the Sabbath. Jesus calls them hypocrites; it is truly black and white. Jesus’ response to the afflicted woman stems from compassion, love, and mercy while those of the leaders spring from their personal desire for power and control which they have thinly veiled by quoting the ‘Law’. This Gospel passage always comes to my mind on any Sunday when I find myself knee-deep in laundry or yard work or other tasks about the house; in my heart I know there is a distinct difference. When I was working as a nurse I never questioned working on Sunday—the Lord’s Day; I never doubted it was the right thing. But sometimes I have found myself rationalizing these other activities on the Lord’s Day, activities that surely distract me from ‘keeping holy the Lord’s Day’. It’s that little ‘whisper’ or ‘tug of heart’ that catches my attention. I know where those interior reminders come from. It comes not from the law. It comes from Jesus.
It is my friendship with Jesus that ‘tugs my heart’ or ‘whispers’ to me. This is the Holy Spirit of Jesus gently inviting me to change. These tender but firm nudges are for my good. They beckon me away from false justifications, clever rationalizations, and the self-centered illusions that tempt me into choosing a lesser good rather than the greater glory of God. Jesus, fully aware of the sacred nature of the Sabbath, acted reflexively in the way that brought greater glory to his Father. This day, may I be granted the grace to be always attentive to and grateful for the ‘whispers’ and ‘tugs of heart’ that are so lovingly sent my way.
--Gail Lyman