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The reason why God's servants love creatures so much is that they see how much Christ loves them, and it is one of the properties of love to love what is loved by the person we love.
- St. Catherine of Siena
(We love what
God loves . . . with God's loving. Rely on this Source today.) |
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1 COR 5:1-8; PS 5:5-6, 7, 12
LK 6:6-11
On a certain sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught,
and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.
The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely
to see if he would cure on the sabbath
so that they might discover a reason to accuse him.
But he realized their intentions
and said to the man with the withered hand,
"Come up and stand before us."
And he rose and stood there.
Then Jesus said to them,
"I ask you, is it lawful to do
good on the sabbath
rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?"
Looking around at them all, he then said to him,
"Stretch out your hand."
He did so and his hand was restored.
But they became enraged
and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
"On another sabbath He came to
teach in a synagogue where there was a man whose right hand was withered." —Luke 6:6
Imagine seeing a man whose right hand was withered. There would be many things he could not do and other things he could do only with great difficulty. He might even feel embarrassed if someone tried to shake his withered hand. If you have any love in your heart, you would want to help this man. How much joy you would feel
when Jesus restored the man's hand perfectly and instantly! (Lk 6:10) However, the scribes and Pharisees reacted differently. "They became frenzied and began asking one another what could be done to Jesus" (Lk 6:11).
"A little yeast has its effect all through the dough" (1 Cor 5:6). The religious leaders of Jesus' time were jealous of Jesus (Mt 27:18) and full of pride and selfishness (see Mt 23:5ff). This yeast affected
their whole lives to the point that they did not love enough to even rejoice in the healing of the man with the withered hand. Therefore, let us repent of all sin, corruption, and wickedness, or we will be unable to live lives of sincerity, truth, love, and joy (see 1 Cor 5:8).
Prayer: Father, I repent and ask You to remove the cancer of sin from my
life.
Promise: "Let all who take refuge in You be glad and exult forever. Protect them, that You may be the joy of those who love Your name." —Ps 5:12 Presentation Ministries
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Abandonment to Divine Providence - by Jean-Pierre de Caussade Section VII: To
estimate degrees of excellence
The perfection of souls, and the degree of excellence to which they have attained can be gauged by their fidelity to the order established by God.
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The will of God gives to all things a supernatural and divine value for the soul submitting to it. The duties it imposes, and those it contains, with all the matters over which it is diffused, become holy and perfect, because, being unlimited in power, everything it touches shares its divine character. But in order not to stray either to the right or to the left the soul should only
attend to those inspirations which it believes it has received from God, by the fact that these inspirations do not withdraw it from the duties of its state. Those duties are the most clear manifestation of the will of God, and nothing should take their place; in them there is nothing to fear, nothing to exclude, nor anything to be chosen. The time occupied in the fulfilment of these duties is very precious and very salutary for the soul by the indubitable fact that it is spent in accomplishing
this holy will. The entire virtue of all that is called holy is in its approximation to this order established by God; therefore nothing should be rejected, nothing sought after, but everything accepted that is ordained and nothing attempted contrary to the will of God.
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