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| Oneness of community |
The Letter of Paul to the Corinthians declares that members of the community may not be examples of immorality to others.
* [5:6] A little yeast: yeast, which induces fermentation, is a natural symbol for a source of corruption that becomes all-pervasive. The expression is proverbial.In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus decides to bring healing without delay to a man even when that would scandalize overly scrupulous religious authorities.
* [6:1–11] The two episodes recounted here deal with gathering grain and healing, both of which were forbidden on the sabbath. In his defense of his disciples’ conduct and his own charitable deed, Jesus argues that satisfying human needs such as hunger and performing works of mercy take precedence even over the sacred sabbath rest. See also notes on Mt 12:1–14 and Mk 2:25–26.Carol Zuegner is inspired to try to move beyond appearances and beyond the letter of the law to the spirit of the law.
I should strive to make the Sabbath holy outside the church. Pope Francis in his apostolic exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate, offers a call to holiness in a practical way in the world by serving others and by our own self-control.Top Five Takeaways from ‘Gaudete et Exsultate’ are listed outlined by James Martin, S.J..
I pray for the willingness to serve others on the Sabbath and every day. I pray that I will follow the spirit of the law and the rules. I pray the words of today’s psalm:
Lead me in your justice, Lord.But let all who take refuge in yoube glad and exult forever.Protect them, that you may be the joyof those who love your name.
The second thing to avoid is Pelagianism, named for Pelagius, the fifth-century theologian associated with this idea. Pelagianism says that we can take care of our salvation through our own efforts. Pelagians trust in their own powers, don’t feel like they need God’s grace and act superior to others because they observe certain rules.Don Schwager quotes Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD) that Jesus heals to teach the Pharisees mercy.
Today’s Pelagians often have, the pope says, “an obsession with the law, an absorption with social and political advantages, punctilious concern for the church’s liturgy, doctrine and prestige.” It’s a real danger to holiness because it robs us of humility, sets us over others, and leaves little room for grace.
"The miracle sometimes converts to faith those who had disbelieved the word, but the Pharisees watched him to see if he would heal on the sabbath. The nature of an envious person is such that he makes the praises of others food for his own disease and is wickedly maddened by their reputation. Once more he spoke to this; 'he reveals deep and mysterious things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him' (Daniel 2:22). And why did he do this? Perhaps it might be to move the cruel and unpitying Pharisee to compassion. The man’s malady [his withered hand] perhaps might shame them and persuade them to dispel the flames of their envy. "This question is most wise indeed and a most suitable statement to meet their folly. If it is lawful to do good on the sabbath and nothing prevents the sick being pitied by God, cease picking up opportunities for fault-finding against Christ and bringing down on your own head the sentence which the Father has decreed against those who dishonor the Son. You have heard the Father where he says of the Son by the voice of David, 'I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him' (Psalm 89:23). But if it is not lawful to do good on the sabbath and the law forbids the saving of life, you have made yourself an accuser of the law." (quote from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 23).The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 6:6-11 compares some Pharisees of Jesus’ day to modern critics. In their zeal to preserve the Law, they had attached their own limited expectations to it. One of those limitations was that they taught that curing the sick was forbidden on the Sabbath—unless the sick person was in danger of death.
This attitude can affect us as well. We can view our own assumptions about God as being the only thing that matters, and end up limiting him as a result. But our heavenly Father wants to take us beyond our expectations, both of who he is and of who we can become. He is not interested in healing you just enough so that you can squeak your way into heaven. He is a generous Father. He wants to fill you with so much grace that you dance through his gates joyfully, bringing countless people behind you whose lives you have touched!Friar Jude Winkler explains the environment of the port of Corinth in which the sin identified by Paul could exist. The community of the Church has to stand for something and show integrity to others. Friar Jude understands Jesus declaration that the man has waited long enough for healing as He violates the absolute prescriptions about the Law formed from the scrupulosity of the religious leaders.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, notes that many passages in the New Testament give a cosmic meaning to Jesus as the Eternal Christ (Colossians 1, Ephesians 1, John 1), but the Eastern fathers of the Church were the first (and last) to make this into a full theology until Bonaventure and Duns Scotus in the thirteenth century and Teilhard de Chardin in the twentieth century. This theology of Christ was never developed in the West, which is why it seems like a new idea to most Catholics and Protestants. One of Fr Richard’s favorite Orthodox scholars, Olivier Clément (1921-2009), helps explain the Eastern fathers’ understanding of Christ.
How could humanity on earth, enslaved by death, recover its wholeness? It was necessary to give to dead flesh the ability to share in the life-giving power of God. He, though he is Life by nature, took a body subject to decay in order to destroy in it the power of death and transform it into life. As iron when it is brought in contact with fire immediately begins to share its colour, so the flesh when it has received the life-giving Word into itself is set free from corruption. Thus he put on our flesh to set it free from death. [1]The declaration of Paul to the Corinthians that nudges toward excommunication seems to be in tension with the mercy at the root of Jesus action healing on the Sabbath and the mercy that permeates the call in ‘Gaudete et Exsultate’ to personal holiness. This tension may be resolved in the cosmic meaning to Jesus as expressed by Franciscan scientist and theologian Ilia Delio who often says, “We are in the universe and the universe is in us.” Christ’s very nature mirrors this universal reality, that we are all one, just as he is one within himself.
The whole of humanity, “forms, so to speak, a single living being.” In Christ we form a single body, we are all “members of one another.” For the one flesh of humanity and of the earth “brought into contact” in Christ “with the fire” of his divinity, is henceforward secretly and sacramentally deified.
References
(n.d.). 1 Corinthians chapter 5 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved September 10, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/5
(n.d.). Luke chapter 6 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved September 10, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/6:24
(2018, April 9). Top Five Takeaways from 'Gaudete et Exsultate' | America Magazine. Retrieved September 10, 2018, from https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2018/04/09/top-five-takeaways-gaudete-et-exsultate
(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved September 10, 2018, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/
(n.d.). 23rd Week in Ordinary Time - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily .... Retrieved September 10, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved September 10, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/
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