The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today underline the need for our diligence in living as disciples of Jesus while at the same time being aware of the trap of excessive religiosity.
The reading from the Letter to the Hebrews proclaims the certainty of God’s Promise.
* [6:12] Imitators of those…inheriting the promises: the author urges the addressees to imitate the faith of the holy people of the Old Testament, who now possess the promised goods of which they lived in hope. This theme will be treated fully in Heb 11.
* [6:13] He swore by himself: God’s promise to Abraham, which he confirmed by an oath (“I swear by myself,” Gn 22:16) was the basis for the hope of all Abraham’s descendants.
* [6:15] He obtained the promise: this probably refers not to Abraham’s temporary possession of the land but to the eschatological blessings that Abraham and the other patriarchs have now come to possess.
* [6:18] Two immutable things: the promise and the oath, both made by God.
* [6:19] Anchor…into the interior behind the veil: a mixed metaphor. The Holy of Holies, beyond the veil that separates it from the Holy Place (Ex 26:31–33), is seen as the earthly counterpart of the heavenly abode of God. This theme will be developed in Heb 9. (Hebrews, CHAPTER 6, n.d.)
Psalm 111 offers praise for God’s Wonderful Works.
* [Psalm 111] A Temple singer (Ps 111:1) tells how God is revealed in Israel’s history (Ps 111:2–10). The deeds reveal God’s very self, powerful, merciful, faithful. The poem is an acrostic, each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
* [111:1] In the assembled congregation of the upright: in the Temple, cf. Ps 149:1.
* [111:5] Food to those who fear him: probably a reference to the manna in the desert, which elsewhere is seen as a type of the Eucharist, cf. Jn 6:31–33, 49–51. (Psalms, PSALM 111, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus makes a pronouncement about the Sabbath.
* [2:23–28] This conflict regarding the sabbath follows the same pattern as in Mk 2:18–22.
* [2:25–26] Have you never read what David did?: Jesus defends the action of his disciples on the basis of 1 Sm 21:2–7 in which an exception is made to the regulation of Lv 24:9 because of the extreme hunger of David and his men. According to 1 Samuel, the priest who gave the bread to David was Ahimelech, father of Abiathar.
* [2:27] The sabbath was made for man: a reaffirmation of the divine intent of the sabbath to benefit Israel as contrasted with the restrictive Pharisaic tradition added to the law.
* [2:28] The Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath: Mark’s comment on the theological meaning of the incident is to benefit his Christian readers; see note on Mk 2:10. (Mark, CHAPTER 2, n.d.)
Mary Lee Brock comments on Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy. This commandment and Honor your mother and your father are the only two commandments that are telling us what to do rather than what we shall not do.
Today I reflect and pray: How can we accept the invitation to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy? What forms of busyness and distraction are preventing me from a Sabbath experience? I ask God for the grace to help me see the many creative ways I can make a Sabbath holy. I pray for hard working people to have an opportunity to recharge through a Sabbath experience.
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our hearts, that we may know what is the hope that belongs to our call. (Brock, 2023)
Don Schwager quotes “The Lord of the Sabbath,” by John Chrysostom, 547-407 A.D.
"Doubtless he speaks of himself when he mentions the 'Lord of the sabbath' (Mark 2:28, Matthew 12:8, Luke 6:5). Mark relates a complementary saying about our common human nature, that "the sabbath was made for humans, not humans for the sabbath" (Mark 2:27). Why then should someone who gathered sticks on the sabbath be censured? The law that was established earlier could not be scorned without jeopardizing the law to be given later.
"The sabbath did confer many benefits, great blessings in the earlier dispensation. It made people more gentle toward those close to them. It guided them toward being more sympathetic. It located them temporally within God's creation and providence, as Ezekiel knew (Ezekiel 20:19-20). The sabbath trained Israel by degrees to abstain from evil and disposed them to listen to the things of the Spirit.
"They would have stretched the law out of shape if, when he was giving the law of the sabbath, Jesus had said, 'You can work on the sabbath, but just do good works, do nothing evil.' This would have brought out the worst in them. So he restrained them from doing any works at all on the sabbath. And even this stricter prohibition did not keep them in line. But he himself, in the very act of giving the law of the sabbath, gave them a veiled sign of things to come. For by saying, 'You must do no work, except what shall be done for your life' (Exodus 12:16), he indicated that the intent of the law was to have them refrain from evil works only, not all works. Even in the temple, much went on during the sabbath, and with great diligence and double toil. Thus even by this very shadowy saying Jesus was secretly opening the truth to them. Did Christ then attempt to repeal a law so beneficial as the sabbath law? Far from it. Rather, he greatly magnified the sabbath. For with Christ came the time for everyone to be trained by a higher requirement."(excerpt from THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 39.3) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 2:23-28 comments that it’s good to be reminded that the Sabbath is also a day of rest. God gave it to us as a break from our daily routine so that we could refocus and reorient our lives around him and the people he has given to us.
Jesus said that the Sabbath was made “for man”—and that includes you (Mark 2:27)! So as you look ahead to the coming weekend, think about what you could do to set this day apart. How might you make it different from other days of the week? Perhaps you could spend a little extra time in prayer, or go for a walk, or enjoy a relaxing meal with loved ones. Whatever you decide, know that when you take the time to rest on the Sabbath, you will experience God’s grace and goodness.
“Lord, thank you for your sabbath rest.” (Meditation on Mark 2:23-28, n.d.)
Franciscan Media shares that the life of Saint Anthony of Egypt will remind many people of Saint Francis of Assisi.
In an age that smiles at the notion of devils and angels, a person known for having power over evil spirits must at least make us pause. And in a day when people speak of life as a “rat race,” one who devotes a whole life to solitude and prayer points to an essential of the Christian life in all ages. Anthony’s hermit life reminds us of the absoluteness of our break with sin and the totality of our commitment to Christ. Even in God’s good world, there is another world whose false values constantly tempt us. (Saint Anthony of Egypt, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler notes that the Letter to the Hebrews goes from narrative to exhortation including that to live the promise of Jesus as the new Melchizedek. Mark relates Jesus' response to the action of the Pharisees to build a fence around the Law so as not to break the smallest part of it. Friar Jude notes the factual error in the text where Jesus misidentifies the high priest connected with David and the showbread.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces theologian Megan McKenna, who notes that the biblical prophets carried a painful burden on behalf of truth and justice. She tells of the transformational wisdom behind the prophet’s dramatic messages and methods.
The prophet uses every resource at his or her disposal. Weeping, raging, crying out, criticism, blessings and curses, storytelling, singing, dramas acted out, possessions and even cities destroyed, food eaten or left to rot, ingenious set-ups and insults—all serve only one purpose: the conversion of heart and the doing of restitution to rebalance and heal the world again. However prophets may prophesy, their integrity is shown by the way in which they give up their very lives as testimony and witness as they side with the forgotten and the lost ones and loudly proclaim that God, who is aware of their pain and feels their suffering as [God’s] own, will not allow that pain and suffering to continue. God is not indifferent to or far from anyone’s life, but rather draws near to those who know pain because of the sin and indifference of others. The prophet loudly insists that God is not impartial and that God will not allow anyone who professes belief in the Holy to harm another. (Rohr, n.d.)
We are in need of rest and withdrawal, as intended for the Sabbath, to refresh our experience of the Presence of God in our lives.
References
Brock, M. L. (2023, January 16). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved January 17, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/011723.html
Hebrews, CHAPTER 6. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved January 17, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/hebrews/6?10
Mark, CHAPTER 2. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved January 17, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/2
Meditation on Mark 2:23-28. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved January 17, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/01/17/586216/
Psalms, PSALM 111. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved January 17, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/111?1
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved January 17, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/unpleasant-truths-2023-01-17/
Saint Anthony of Egypt. (n.d.). Franciscan Media. Retrieved January 17, 2023, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-anthony-of-egypt/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). The Son of Man Is Lord of the Sabbath. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved January 17, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=jan17
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