Gospel Reflection for The 17th day of January in the year of Our Lord, 2024
Gospel
Mark 3:1-6
1 And he entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there who had a withered hand. 2 And they watched him whether he would heal on the sabbath days; that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand: Stand up in the midst. 4 And he saith to them: Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy? But they held their peace. 5 And looking round about on them with anger, being grieved for the blindness of their hearts, he saith to the man: Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth: and his hand was restored unto him.
6 And the Pharisees going out, immediately made a consultation with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
Another passage comes to mind in which the Jews ask Jesus about marriage. They state that Moses allowed them to divorce. Jesus not only explains to them that marriage is a permanent sacrament so long as we live, but that Moses only conceded to their demands due to the “hardness of their hearts.” Here, we find a crippled man whom the religious officials would have allowed remained crippled. They seemingly cared nothing for him, but only wished to catch Jesus in violation of the Law. In both instances, the hardness of their hearts caused them to violate the true Law of God, to love one another as yourself and God with all your heart. Spouses “fell out of love” and sought divorce. These supposedly pious men did not love their neighbor enough to wish him healed by whatever means necessary. They did not love God, as Jesus is God.
All instances were sin, based in the Torah Law. Jesus openly defied them, because He sought Mercy. Jesus cared for the crippled man. Jesus emphasized the sacrament of marriage. Jesus was God standing among them and speaking to them, the embodiment of love. It seems the religious officials had become so hard hearted that they lacked love. Without love, there is no mercy.
Our Lord said of marriage, “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” Too few follow this teaching today, and the family is in dire straights. Our society is falling apart because the institution of marriage is no longer valued. But, marriage is not all that God has joined together. He made us one in the Body of Christ. The division caused by Protestantism is only one aspect of this failure of humanity and love of neighbor. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. If one member suffers, the entire body suffers. Jesus asks rhetorically, “who is my brother..?” He answers that all who do the Father’s will are His family. He tells us not to approach the Eucharist if we have division with our brothers. His Apostles complained that His teaching on marriage was more than was humanly possible. Yet, we allow division not only among spouses, but in our families, and not only in our churches but among our neighbors. Each of us must strive to re-unify the body of Christ. While we must be reconciled to God through Confession, we must also reconcile with our fellow man, especially our families.
Of course, it is not in our power to truly reconcile with people who are abusive, violent, sociopathic, etc. Just as the Church allows separation and provides annulment for such cases in marriage, it also does not require us to become victims to those who would hurt us. We may separate ourselves from such people. If, in our charity, we can pray for such people it will be to our benefit, and perhaps to theirs. Sometimes, all we can do is to pray for people.
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Gospel passages are taken from the Douay Rheims Bible.