The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today present our relationship to God as “Abba” and who as a loving parent responds in the manner of Jesus to the need to heal the woman in the Synagogue.
The Reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans declares us Children of God through Adoption.
* [8:14–17] Christians, by reason of the Spirit’s presence within them, enjoy not only new life but also a new relationship to God, that of adopted children and heirs through Christ, whose sufferings and glory they share.
* [8:15] Abba: see note on Mk 14:36. (Romans, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 68 expresses confidence that God will destroy Israel’s enemies.
The argument develops in nine stanzas (each of three to five poetic lines): 1. confidence that God will destroy Israel’s enemies (Ps 68:2–4); 2. call to praise God as savior (Ps 68:5–7); (Psalms, PSALM 68 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus cures a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath.
* [13:10–17] The cure of the crippled woman on the sabbath and the controversy that results furnishes a parallel to an incident that will be reported by Luke in 14:1–6, the cure of the man with dropsy on the sabbath. A characteristic of Luke’s style is the juxtaposition of an incident that reveals Jesus’ concern for a man with an incident that reveals his concern for a woman; cf., e.g., Lk 7:11–17 and Lk 8:49–56.
* [13:15–16] If the law as interpreted by Jewish tradition allowed for the untying of bound animals on the sabbath, how much more should this woman who has been bound by Satan’s power be freed on the sabbath from her affliction.
* [13:16] Whom Satan has bound: affliction and infirmity are taken as evidence of Satan’s hold on humanity. The healing ministry of Jesus reveals the gradual wresting from Satan of control over humanity and the establishment of God’s kingdom. (Luke, CHAPTER 13|USCCB, n.d.)
A Member of Creighton University Community comments that rules as understood and applied by the religious leader in the Gospel are entirely of the flesh; they do nothing to help us achieve the life of the spirit.
The religious leader’s error was that he lost sight of the purpose of the rule. The purpose of the rule forbidding Sabbath work was to allow all to be able to glorify God at least one day a week. But understanding it as he did, it became a rule that would actually prevent glorifying God as Jesus did by healing the sick woman.
As humans we all struggle with rules. We break and bend them, often for selfish reasons. But the greatest error is entirely losing sight of their purposes. (Member of Creighton University Community, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “Jesus overcomes death and destruction,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).
"The incarnation of the Word and his assumption of human nature took place for the overthrow of death, destruction and the envy harbored against us by the wicked Serpent, who was the first cause of evil. This plainly is proved to us by facts themselves. He set free the daughter of Abraham from her protracted sickness, calling out and saying, 'Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.' A speech most worthy of God, and full of supernatural power! With the royal inclination of his will, he drives away the disease. He also lays his hands upon her. It says that she immediately was made straight. It is now also possible to see that his holy flesh bore in it the power and activity of God. It was his own flesh, and not that of some other Son beside him, distinct and separate from him, as some most impiously imagine."(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 96) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 13:10-17 comments that it seems absurd that anyone would want to limit God’s power to certain days of the week. Yet there may be subtle ways that we put limitations on how and when God might heal us.
Whatever objections you might have, Jesus wants to set you free. He just asks you to keep showing up, to keep coming before him in prayer and trust. As you do, you are making yourself available to whatever he wants to do in you. He knows the healing you need. It may be a physical healing; it may be an easing of worry or calming of your emotions. It may be an increased closeness to him. Or it may be all of the above! Just remember the two women. They didn’t come specifically asking for healing. They just showed up.
And so did the Lord.
“Here I am, Lord. I trust you to give me what you know I need.” (Meditation on Luke 13:10-17, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler notes that, in Romans, Paul speaks that we are no longer debtors to the flesh. We are children of God who we know intimately as “Abba”. We have to reject former ways in the dignity to which we have been called. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus heals in the synagogue on the Sabbath, where the rules allowed healing only when at the time of death. The woman had suffered for 18 years so some people might ask “what’s one more day?”. Jesus notes the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and acts immediately to heal the woman. Friar Jude reminds us that rules should bring us to greater love and not to be worshipped for themselves.
Fr. Mike Schmitz provides context to the God-centered perspective of 2 Maccabees and compares it to the more secular perspective provided by 1 Maccabees. He challenges us to reflect on our days with the lens of 2 Maccabees - acknowledging God’s presence in each moment of our story. Additionally, Fr. Mike shares the miraculous conversion story of St. Mary of Egypt. Today’s readings are 2 Maccabees 3, Sirach 45-46, and Proverbs 24:10-12.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Rev. Dr. Barbara Holmes who describes the gifts and wisdom she has received from the ancestors of her faith and culture.
The end result is that I know that I am not alone. I am connected to the past and the future by the ligatures of well-lived lives, the mysteries of “beyondness,” and the memories and narratives that lovingly bind and support me. While I hope that when I die, one of the elders in my family who have crossed over to the realm of the ancestors will be at my bedside, I certainly did not expect contact prior to that time. And yet here I am, [in my work] hearing from liberation leaders I have never personally met. As it turns out, they are also my elders as certainly as if they occupied a branch of my family tree. They have bequeathed to all of us a legacy of resolve, resistance, and spiritual expansiveness. (Rohr, n.d.)
We may have experienced a worship tradition that had a huge number of rules and we are reminded by Jesus that love and compassion supersede human regulations, particularly when the “anawim” are in need.
References
Luke, CHAPTER 13|USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 27, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/13?10
Meditation on Luke 13:10-17. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved October 27, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/10/27/1415470/
Member of Creighton University Community. (n.d.). Daily Reflections. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved October 27, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-october-29-2007
Psalms, PSALM 68 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 27, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/68?2
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC.org. Retrieved October 27, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/community-continues/
Romans, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 27, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/romans/8?12
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Freedom from Bondage for Eighteen Years. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved October 27, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/
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