Priests and a Withered Hand

This passage from the texts of the Roman Catholic lectionary reads “The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.” As related in Mark’s Gospel, this decision was made after Jesus cured the man with the withered hand. The laws observed by the religious authorities of Jesus time had lost sight of the “priesthood” which is announced today in the Letter to the Hebrews and is praised for its strength and mighty power of God by the psalmist. The recognition of the Divine gift of ministry to others through the priesthood can be lost in making the priesthood the arbiter of rules and regulations. The service of the priest is to be the channel for the realization of the Presence and the love, forgiveness and healing which is that relationship with the Divine. Human attempts to control and limit the desire of the Divine to delight in the children of God are futile.