Pray for Life

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today link life and decisions which go against the prevailing customs or wisdom. The Prophet Isaiah was a great support and influence on Hezekiah who ruled Judah near the end of the seventh century BCE. Rabbinical literature considers Hezekiah as the model of those who put their trust in the Lord. The episode in the text today is preceded by decisions of Hezekiah to restore Temple worship in Judah and to act on the advice of Isaiah to trust God more than alliances and treaties with the pagan neighbours of Judah. During an Assyrian siege of Jerusalem, Hezekiah becomes gravely ill. Isaiah predicts his imminent death, which would leave him without an heir, and the king prays to God for health and is given additional time to live. The trust we have in God is not a blind trust but it is a conforming of our action to the Will of God. The dialogue of prayer is essential in our communion with God as we respond to the changes and challenges of daily life. As the canticle from Isaiah proclaims our trust position daily is “You have saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die”. The Gospel passage from Matthew where Jesus explains the action of his disciples who pick some grain on the Sabbath, is not a simple technique for Christians to relieve themselves of the burden of Law, comments Chas Kestermeier, SJ. He notes that we may adopt a self scrutiny which will bring us out of the intimate contact in prayer with Jesus through which we are inspired by the Spirit to comprehend intention and action which is harmonious with the Will of God and the authority of the Son of Man as the Lord of the Sabbath to correct the laws which may be based more in human desires and plans than Life in communion with God.